SAVIORS
by luvhouse5
Summary: Based on the prompt: "In which Chase follows in Wilson's footsteps, fidelity wise." Chase/ Cuddy. Romance, angst, humor, sex. Lots of sex.
1. Chapter 1

**AS PER REQUEST, THIS IS A CHASE/ CUDDY FIC BASED ON THE PROMPT:**

**"IN WHICH CHASE FOLLOWS IN WILSON'S FOOTSTEPS, FIDELITY WISE."**

**ALTHOUGH CHUDDY MIGHT NOT BE A TYPICAL PAIRING, I AND SEVERAL OTHERS THINK THAT IT HAS GREAT POTENTIAL.**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :-) **

**------------------------------------------------------------ **

**SAVIORS**

**CHAPTER 1: Please read and comment.**

It was 8 pm when Cuddy put Rachel down on her back in her crib for the night, taking her tiny hand in hers and rubbing the top of it with her fingertips to lull her to sleep.

As she smiled at her thirteen- month old daughter, she couldn't get over how well the Ferber method had worked on her. A month ago, she had been incredibly skeptical about the entire thing, thinking that it was too late to sleep- train her.

But in only one week, Rachel was asleep within five minutes of putting her down in her crib and was actually sleeping through the entire night.

Of course, Cuddy had barely slept through the night for that one week as her heart broke while she listened to her daughter cry herself bitterly to sleep from her own bedroom.

"_Leave her alone,_" he had said to her, not letting her get out of the bed.

"_How can I listen to this_?" she had asked him miserably. "_She's crying for me._"

"_Lise, she has to learn to sleep through the night_," he had insisted.

"_What if she vomits in the crib because she's crying so hard?_" she demanded.

"_Then you'll go in there, clean her and the vomit up, and put her back down to sleep,_" he had replied simply.

Of course she had listened to him, because he was right. She had read everything she could possibly find on the Feber Method, and no doctor, including her, could deny its success.

But the mommy in her wanted to go into Rachel's room, pick her up in her arms and bring her into her own bed.

It was a week of torture, but it had been worth it.

And like always, he had been patient and supportive.

Like clockwork, Rachel was asleep in five minutes. Cuddy gently placed her tiny hand on the mattress and disentangled her fingers as carefully as she could. Rachel inhaled through her tiny nose and turned her head from one side to the other.

But she didn't wake up.

Letting out a breath that she had no idea she had been holding in, Cuddy exited Rachel's room without giving into the urge to flip on the audio baby monitor before she left. If for some reason, Rachel did wake up in the middle of the night, she'd have to stick to her resolve not to immediately go to her and let her just cry herself to sleep once again.

When she got back to her bedroom, she checked herself in her antique full- length mirror, deciding that the disheveled mommy look just wouldn't do for what she had planned for the rest of the night.

She stripped out of her sweats and her University of Michigan t- shirt, tossing them into a nearby laundry basket in the corner of her bedroom. Clad only in her lace bra and panties, she headed for the shower, grabbing two towels along the way from the linen closet.

She unhooked her bra and slipped out of her lace panties, throwing them into the bathroom hamper as well, chuckling to herself as she remembered how he had teased her about it.

"_Do you have hampers in every room?_" he had asked her.

"_Only in rooms where I know I'm going to be getting undressed,_" she had replied coyly.

"_Based on what we've been doing lately, you'd better buy a lot more hampers,_" he had quipped sexily.

She turned on the water, waiting for it to heat up. Once it did, she stepped into the shower and stood under the steady stream, tilting her head back, reveling in the feeling of the hot water against her skin and the steam rising all around her.

She glanced at the hand held shower hose that she had gotten all too intimate with in the last few years and smirked at it in triumph.

"Don't need you in here anymore," she said aloud to the shower hose.

She took the red hair band out of her hair, tousling her head a bit to let her dark waves tumble around her shoulders. She'd been letting it grow longer for the last few months for him.

And he had absolutely loved it.

Her eyes closed, lost in the haze of the hot water and steam, she hadn't even heard when he had entered the bathroom.

But when she felt a pair of muscular arms wrap around her waist, she jumped and shrieked, turning her head sharply behind her.

She exhaled, relaxing immediately when she saw him standing behind her, completely naked as well.

"You scared the crap out of me," Cuddy stated.

"I'm sorry," Chase whispered in her ear huskily, tightening his grip around her petite, naked frame.

"When I gave you the key, I didn't think you'd use it to give me a heart attack," she scolded him lightly.

"I didn't want to wake Rachel. I know how hard you worked to get her to sleep through the night," he said with an innocent look on his face.

A curt laugh escaped her lips.

"Oh you're good," she snarked.

He flashed her one of his patented dazzling smiles and turned her around to face him, drinking in the sight of her wet, naked body. He pressed his dusky pink erect cock against her as he pulled her close.

"And you're gorgeous," he murmured.

They kissed hungrily, exploring every inch of each other's mouths with their lips and tongues, moaning wantonly.

She backed up slightly as they clung to each other desperately, bringing him into the stream of the water. As he got wet, she reached up and slicked back his now damp hair out of his eyes, still devouring his lips with her own.

He began to kiss her frantically down her neck to her collarbone, tasting the salt on her skin. She raked her fingers through his wet hair, encouraging him on.

He trailed his entire mouth down her body, greedily engulfing her areola with his lips as he possessively cupped her perky breasts in his hand, suckling on one of her wet, erect nipples. She gasped in delight as he did so.

He gave just as much undivided attention to her other breast, a whimper emanating from her lips.

He then got down on his knees, oblivious to the hard tile floor of the shower, slowing his earlier frenetic pace as he languidly kissed his way down her taut, toned abdomen, nuzzling his face into her with every kiss.

She sighed in pleasure, placing her hands on his defined shoulders.

He encircled her navel with his tongue, tracing a line with the tip of it down to the top of her hairline. As he delicately trailed his nose down her thin strip of hair, bringing his soft, full lips closer to his sweet, intended destination, she placed her hand on his cheek to get his attention.

He looked up at her with his sparkling aquamarine eyes, waiting desperately for her command.

"Not yet," she said in her throaty alto voice.

"When?" he asked pleadingly, his hands on both of her wet, naked hips, gazing up at her.

It was only one word. But it made her clit twitch and tingle with urgency. His voice was rough, insatiable with desire.

All for her.

"… Soon," she whimpered.

"I want it now," he murmured, nestling his nose in her soft hairs, teasing her sex mercilessly.

It took all of her resolve not to give into him. They only had a limited time before he would have to leave and go back to his other life. His real life.

And she wanted every moment with him to last as long as possible.

"Wash me first?" she asked.

He obeyed and got up off his knees, grabbing the bottle of Dove body wash off the marble recessed shelf on the wall as he did so.

She used to keep a bottle of very expensive vanilla and orange scented body wash there.

But after realizing that Cameron might recognize the scent on him, she quickly replaced it with the brand that she and Chase used in their home so she wouldn't get suspicious.

He soaped up his hands and thoroughly washed her breasts, shoulders, waist and hips, his cock throbbing at the sight of the wet lather dripping down her abdomen.

"God, you are so beautiful," he uttered as he washed her.

"So are you…" she replied, lolling her head back, losing herself in his touch.

He slid his soapy hands down to her firm ass, squeezing it.

"I love that your gorgeous ass is mine and not his," he said huskily.

"It was _NEVER_ his," she assured him breathlessly.

He had done that since the beginning-- bring House into the conversation to clarify that she didn't belong to him. That she had never belonged to him.

At first it had shocked her that he would be so bold to say his name when they were intimate.

But now, it had become a game of defiance, reminding her that if House ever caught on to what they were doing, it would be all over the hospital.

Which made it all the more forbidding and exciting.

She didn't dare do the same with Cameron. Since they had been together, Cuddy had never even mentioned her name.

And she noticed that Chase didn't either.

But neither of them cared.

He lathered her entire body, bending down a bit to cover her thighs in soap. She lifted each toned, supple leg at a time so he could wash her calves and toes, which displayed a dark ruby red polish, at his request.

She couldn't get over how much he wanted her. How he couldn't get enough of her. How he never played the stupid games that most men played instead of being upfront about their feelings.

She knew it was more than sex between them. Much more.

But occasionally she would wonder if Chase would be this hot for her if they had a normal, garden- variety relationship, instead of an affair. If they could be open about their feelings for each other instead of hiding them from the world, would he still have that same feeling of primal lust for her?

But all thoughts of that nature disappeared as he nudged her legs apart and slipped his slick fingers inside her, causing her to cry out.

She moaned as he pumped his two fingers inside her, over and over again, holding onto him tightly as she felt her knees grow weak underneath her.

"Come for me, Lise," he begged, feeling her velvety walls contract around his fingers, knowing it wouldn't be long before he got what he wanted.

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A while later, Cuddy exited the shower with an incredibly satisfied smile on her face.

After drying her body and hair with one of the large bath towels she had grabbed from the linen closet earlier, she wrapped it around her naked body, beads of water still glistening on her collarbone, her damp, dark ringlets to her shoulders.

Chase followed her, grabbing the other towel, roughly drying his own body and hair before wrapping it around his waist.

"I'm just going to peek in on Rachel," she told him after putting up her loose curls in a butterfly clip.

Chase nodded and smiled. "Don't be long," he told her.

She tiptoed in bare feet down the hallway to Rachel's room and peeked her head in, the only light coming from her Whinny the Pooh night light that was plugged into one of the outlets.

She smiled softly when she saw that Rachel was still sleeping peacefully.

"Leave her alone," Chase whispered over her shoulder from behind her, still wearing the towel.

"I'm just checking on her," she whispered back.

"You're supposed to let her sleep," he reminded her.

"I'm not waking her," she argued.

"You will if we stay here," he pointed out.

"You just want to bring me to bed with you," she said with a smirk.

"Yeah, so?" he asked with a coy smile.

"So… what are you waiting for?" she asked, her smirk turning into a grin.

He shrugged and then scooped her off her feet, holding her in his arms. She pressed her lips together to suppress a giggle that was threatening to escape as he carried her off to her bedroom.

When they got there, he gently lay her down on the bed. Still both wearing the bath towels, he lay down on top of her, the fringe of his still slightly damp blond locks falling in his face.

She reached up to him, brushing his hair out of his eyes and caressed his cheek. He closed his eyes at her soft, delicate touch.

"How much time do we have?" she asked.

He kissed her palm. "She's done at 5 am," he replied.

"Which means you can't stay," she clarified wistfully.

He shook his head, slowly and sadly as he looked into the beautiful soft- grey eyes that made his heart lurch every time he gazed at her.

She smiled in disappointment, lifting her head slightly off the pillow, brushing her lips against his.

As they kissed tenderly, Chase lifted his body up and removed both their towels, flinging them onto the floor.

"I'll put 'em in the hamper before I leave," he teased her.

She grinned.

"Leave 'em," she replied.

They kissed again, just as tenderly, as if they were trying to memorize each other's lips. His tongue caressed hers searchingly as they held each other in their arms.

Unlike the shower, they moved slowly, exploring every inch of each other as their kiss deepened, as if they had all the time in the world to enjoy each other.

Even though they didn't.

He made love to her with slow, decadent thrusts, almost as if he was defying their limited time together, making delicious circles with his hips, giving her friction where she craved it most.

She wrapped her legs around him tightly, arching back off the bed, gasping and moaning with every thrust, hoping that time would stop even for a little while, so they could freeze themselves in the moment.

He propped himself up a bit, watching her eyes flutter closed as she arched back, her lovely, elegant neck and collar bones as an offering to him.

But he didn't kiss them.

He just watched her face as she got closer and closed to the edge, breathing heavily. He was always blown away at how beautiful she looked at this very moment, her cheeks flush with arousal as he brought them closer to climax.

He felt the pressure build up inside him, frantically thinking of anything that would hold back his imminent explosion.

But nothing worked.

He came inside her, his body shuddering from the force of his orgasm. She held him as he cried out into her neck, trying to keep as quiet as he possibly could.

She quickly tumbled after him, biting her lip as she did the same. 

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At three thirty am, Cuddy's alarm clock went off on her night- stand. She reached over and slapped the snooze button in annoyance.

She exhaled as she rolled away from it, facing Chase, who was sleeping on his stomach and had not woken from the sound.

She kissed the back of his neck.

"Chase…" she said softly.

"Mmph," he replied against the pillow.

"You have to go," she told him.

"…Five more minutes," he mumbled in a raspy voice.

"We don't have five more minutes," she reminded him.

At this, he opened his eyes and rolled over onto his back to face her. She was propped up on her elbow, smiling down at him in a melancholy fashion.

He reached up and twirled one of her long curls in his fingertips.

"I hate that we don't have five more minutes," he stated, his accent thicker than usual as it always was when he woke up.

"So do I," she replied sincerely.

"I wanna stay," he said, tracing the outline of her jaw with his fingertips.

"I want you to stay…" she began.

"… But you can't," she said.

He nodded, knowing that she was right.

He kissed her lips and reluctantly dragged himself out of her bed. She watched him dress quietly.

She smiled a little when she saw that he hadn't thrown his clothes on the floor of her bedroom, but had folded them neatly and had placed them on her dresser.

Once he was fully dressed, he sat down on the bed next to her, caressing her bare shoulder. She had pulled up the sheet underneath her quilt to cover her breasts. He resisted the urge to pull it down.

"I'm sorry that I have to go," he said sincerely.

"Stop apologizing," she told him.

He nodded again and kissed her one more time before getting up off the bed.

"Don't forget your ring," she reminded him.

He stopped in his tracks and dug his platinum wedding ring out of his pants and placed it back on his finger.

"I'll lock the door on my way out," he assured her.

"Ok."

He gave her one more kiss before he finally left her room. She could feel in his lips the promise that they'd be together again soon.

After he let himself out of her house, she heard him start his car and drive away, leaving her awake, hugging her pillow and taking in the scent of him on the pillow case.

It had been three months like this.

Stolen moments here and there in the hospital, him sneaking over to her place in the middle of the night when Cameron would have a late shift at the hospital.

She knew that at the moment, they couldn't have more.

But she wanted more.

A lot more.

As she lay back on the pillow, looking up at the ceiling, she recalled back to when they first got together. It had been frantic, passionate, unyeilding.

But not unexpected…

TBC…


	2. Chapter 2

**HI EVERYONE!!**

**THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING AND COMMENTING!! I'M SORRY THAT IT TOOK SO LONG TO POST ANOTHER CHAPTER.**

**MY PLAN IS TO UPDATE THIS FIC AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK. HOPEFULLY MORE.**

**HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER, WHICH IS A FLASHBACK TO THREE AND A HALF MONTHS EARLIER THAN THE FIRST CHAPTER.**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :-) **

****************************************************************** **

**CHAPTER TWO:**

**THREE AND A HALF MONTHS EARLIER.**

It was around 10:30 that morning. Chase had been in the Clinic for only a half- hour and he was already praying for a call from his boss that he was desperately needed for an emergency breast augmentation.

He looked down at his pager, which hadn't made a sound.

No such luck.

"Who's next?" Chase sighed in exasperation as he leaned over the charge nurse's desk.

"Ten month old female with a runny nose," Nurse Brenda told him without bothering to look up from her paperwork as she handed him the file.

Chase nodded and took the file without bothering to look at the name on it.

He then went into the exam room, trying to keep the friendly smile on his face when he saw an anxious young looking woman with dark eyes and dark hair, bobbing a baby girl up and down in her arms. The baby had bloody mucus oozing out of her left nostril and was crying bitterly.

"I'm Dr. Chase. What's going on with…" Chase began, pausing as he glanced down at the file.

When he saw the name, his eyebrows arched high on his forehead.

"…_RACHEL CUDDY_?" Chase asked in surprise, looking back up at the infant.

"I'm the babysitter. She's having trouble breathing," the young woman said nervously.

Chase stepped closer to Rachel, who was still crying.

He noted that she was alert and that her lips and cheeks were a rosy color. He could hear a distinct whistling sound coming from her nose in between cries.

"Does Dr. Cuddy know you're here with her daughter?" Chase asked as he placed his stethoscope on his ears.

"No," the babysitter said, shaking her head quickly. "I think she's wheezing," she added, a bit frantically.

Chase glanced up at the babysitter for a moment, mentally rolling his eyes at her assessment of the infant.

"Color looks good," Chase commented. "Sit down on the table, unsnap her onesie and hold her on your lap."

The babysitter did as Chase ordered, holding her tight. Chase then lifted the front of the onesie and listened to her chest carefully with the chest piece of his stethoscope.

"Heart sounds great," he said as he moved the chest piece to Rachel's back.

As he did so, Rachel started to hiccup and gasp between cries.

"Almost done," Chase said softly as he listened to various strategic places on her back.

The babysitter watched Chase nervously as he remained calm while he examined her.

"Any fever, diarrhea or vomiting?" Chase asked as he took his stethoscope off his ears and placed it around his neck and shoulders.

"No," she replied.

Chase nodded as he looked up both her nostrils with an otoscope.

"She's not wheezing," he declared.

"Are you sure?" the babysitter asked.

"Pretty sure," Chase mumbled as he looked through one of the nearby drawers and found a packaged sterile set of forceps.

Upon seeing the instrument, the babysitter's eyes widened with fear.

"What are you going to do with those?!" she demanded anxiously.

"Hold her steady," Chase replied with a soft tone.

Knowing that she didn't have a choice, the babysitter held Rachel in her arms as steady as she could.

Confident that she was secure, Chase gripped Rachel's cheeks gently but firmly in his left hand as he carefully placed the forceps up her left nostril.

Before the babysitter knew what was happening, Chase extracted an intact Cheerio out of the baby's nostril with the forceps.

Chase smirked a bit as he displayed the Cheerio between the forceps to the babysitter.

Rachel had immediately stopped crying once Chase had pulled the forceps out.

The baby sitter just stared at the Cheerio in the instrument blankly.

"Oh god. Dr. Cuddy's going to _kill_ me," she whined.

"I'm pretty sure she won't kill you because her daughter stuffed a Cheerio up her nose," Chase reassured her.

"Then she _FIRE_ me," the baby sitter said miserably.

"She's gonna be fine now," Chase said, handing her a nearby box of tissues so she could wipe Rachel's nose.

As the babysitter started to wipe off the mucus from Rachel's face, she watched Chase with panic as he started to recorded the necessary information in Rachel's chart.

"Could you not tell Dr. Cuddy what happened?" the babysitter pleaded.

Chase looked up from the chart with an arched eyebrow.

"_You_ should really be the one to tell her," he advised.

"I can't tell her. She'll fire me," the babysitter said desperately.

Chase exhaled in exasperation, wondering to himself if this woman was really this stupid.

"Dr. Cuddy has access to all the patient files in the Clinic. If for some reason she comes across her own daughter's file and finds out that she was brought in for an emergency visit, don't you think that would be worse than you telling her the truth?" Chase asked her.

The baby sitter pursed her lips together while she considered Chase's question.

Without waiting for an answer, Chase smiled down at Rachel, who was still in the baby sitter's arms, and pinched her nose gently, causing her to giggle out loud.

"Good luck," he said to the babysitter before leaving the exam room. 

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Later that day, Chase was in the ER, stretched out on one of the beds with his eyes closed and his hands behind his head.

He was so relaxed that he didn't even notice Cuddy until she was standing right over him.

"Did you see Rachel as a Clinic patient today?" she asked him.

At the sound of her voice, Chase's eyes flew open.

When he saw her standing directly over him, he immediately sat up and quickly raked his fingers through his hair.

Cuddy tilted her head with a bemused expression on her face, waiting for Chase's answer.

"…You saw the file?" he asked, sheepishly.

"No… but based on my babysitter's description of the 'really cute, blond _British_ doctor' she saw this morning, I figured that narrowed it down quite a bit," she said, a grin slowly forming across her face.

Chase chuckled. "Is Rachel ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, she's fine," she replied, smiling.

Chase relaxed his posture a bit. "Your babysitter was worried that you were gonna fire her," he told Cuddy.

"I _DID_ fire her," Cuddy said.

Chase's eyes widened tremendously, which earned a withered look from Cuddy.

"Besides not knowing the difference between British and Australian, she had no idea that my ten month old daughter shoved a Cheerio up her nose. You think I should've given her a raise instead?" Cuddy asked sarcastically.

A laugh escaped Chase's lips.

"Guess not," he admitted.

"The problem is, now I don't have child care, and I'm supposed to go to a fundraiser event at Princeton Country Club tonight," Cuddy told him.

"Mm. Swanky," Chase remarked.

"The charity that's hosting it raised over two- hundred thousand dollars for our pediatrics department. I'm supposed to make a speech thanking them. I don't have a choice," Cuddy muttered.

"Free drinks, dinner _AND_ someone handing you a big fat check? Yeah, that's tough," he snarked.

"The _HOSPITAL_ is getting the big fat check," Cuddy clarified, a smile tugging at her lips.

"…I'm just going to get aggravation trying to find a babysitter at the last minute," she added, her smile fading.

Chase twisted his mouth, thinking to himself if what he was about to say was a bad idea.

"…I can do it, if you've got no one else," Chase said.

Cuddy raised her eyebrows, not sure if she was hearing him correctly.

"…You're… offering to _BABYSIT_?" she clarified.

Chase shrugged. "Cameron's working a double shift tonight. It's not like I've got anything else to do," he said off- handedly.

Cuddy paused, thinking to herself if there was more behind Chase's casual demeanor about Cameron's double shift.

But she didn't feel that it was her place to ask.

"Have you ever babysat for an infant before?" she asked instead.

"As a matter of fact, I have," he replied, a self- righteous smile playing about his lips.

"I'll probably be a late night. I might not be home until after ten," she said.

"That's fine," he said.

Still wondering why Chase was so willing to help her out, she knew that she wasn't going to get a better deal at such short notice.

"Ok… be at my house at six," Cuddy finally said.

"Sure," he replied. "I just need your address."

"Didn't you search my place with House and Foreman four years ago?" she reminded him, arching her eyebrow slightly.

Chase demurred as his memory jogged back to the time that House, Foreman and he had broken into her place to search for any clue that might help their patient at the time.

Chase also remembered that House had tossed one of Cuddy's pink thongs at him after rifling through her underwear drawer.

"I was hoping you'd forget that," he said sheepishly.

At that, Cuddy moved closer to his ear.

"This time, don't go through my underwear drawer," she whispered before turning to leave the ER. 

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Cuddy was sitting on her living room couch, clapping her hands excitedly and smiling as she watched Rachel tentatively cruise towards her from the far end of the couch, holding onto the edge of the cushions as she did so, when the doorbell rang promptly at six pm.

Cuddy gasped softly with a smile, widening her eyes at Rachel.

"Let's go see who's at the door," Cuddy said to her daughter in a loving voice, scooping her up into her arms and taking her to the front door with her.

Holding Rachel securely, she unlocked and opened the front door with her free hand, finding Chase waiting on her front stoop with his hands in the back pockets of his jeans.

"Hi. Come in. You're right on time," Cuddy said with a friendly smile.

But Chase didn't smile back.

He just stood at her front door, his jaw dropped, completely taken aback at her appearance.

Cuddy was wearing a shimmering royal blue cocktail dress, with spaghetti straps and a plunging v- neckline that displayed her perky breasts and cleavage. The pleated cummerbund waist and slim skirt accentuated her slim, yet curvy figure, while the hemline above her knee showed off her toned legs. A pair of black Christian Louboutin peep toe four inch heels completed her look. Her dark waves were loose, cascading just above her shoulders.

Still holding Rachel, Cuddy looked down at herself and then back up at Chase with a bewildered look.

"Is something wrong?" she said.

It took Chase a moment to realize that he'd been staring at her with his mouth gaped wide open. He shook his head a bit, as if clearing his head.

"No, it's…" he began, trailing off, his eyes still fixated on her.

Cuddy shook her head ever so slightly, her hair tousling about her shoulder.

"What?" she asked, a gentle look in her blue- grey eyes.

"You look great," Chase replied sincerely.

Cuddy felt her breath hitch ever so slightly in her chest at Chase's compliment.

Maybe it was his honest tone, or the way his aquamarine eyes seemed to be sparkling as he looked at her.

Or maybe it was because no one had told her that she looked great in a really long time.

But whatever the reason, she couldn't deny how the tiny hairs were standing up on the back of her neck and the tingle that she felt through her body at his words.

"…Thank you," she replied softly.

Chase smiled in return.

A soft, gentle smile that made her heart rate pick up just a bit.

Inwardly composing herself, she led Chase through the foyer into the kitchen.

Chase followed closely behind, his eyes trailing over the low v- back of her dress and how the fabric hugged her supple curves and how her calf muscles flexed at every step.

Once they entered the kitchen, Cuddy handed Chase a copy of the meticulously detailed list of instructions that she had written out for him. Rachel twirled a lock of Cuddy's hair as she began to explain her instructions.

"Her dinner's all ready for you in the pink small Tupperwares in the fridge. They're labeled so you'll know exactly where they are. There's also two bottles of formula in there. You don't have to heat it. She can just drink it like that," Cuddy began.

Chase nodded, trying not to smirk as he read down the list, which was exactly word- for- word what she was saying to him.

"She can have juice, but only out of the sippy cup and cut it with water. She'll skip her bath—" Cuddy continued.

"I can bathe her," Chase interrupted.

Cuddy grimaced. "… You sure?" she asked.

"You don't think I can do it?" he asked her.

Cuddy faltered for a moment. "No… it's just I figured that you wouldn't want to bother—"

"You don't trust me," Chase said, his smirk finally showing through.

"If I didn't trust you, you wouldn't be here," she pointed out.

Chase's smirk morphed into a smile.

"Fair enough," he said.

"Ma ma ma ma," Rachel suddenly said.

Chase's entire face brightened.

"She can talk this early?" he asked excitedly.

"She's been saying that for two weeks. I doubt she's referring to me," Cuddy said dismissively.

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"Because most ten month olds can't say '_mama_' discriminately," Cuddy replied.

"Well then maybe she's just brilliant like her mum," he replied with a charming smile, reaching over and touching Rachel's nose with the tip of his index finger.

Rachel looked up at Chase with widened eyes as he touched her nose.

She then reached out and grabbed his finger in her tiny hand, closing her fist around it.

"Ooh, you've got me!" Chase said to her in a playful tone.

He then tickled her tummy over her flower patterned t- shirt, causing Rachel to laugh out loud. Chase's smile broadened in response.

For a moment, Cuddy just watched the two of them together, amazed at how quickly her daughter had taken to Chase.

"Ok, you can give her a bath after dinner," Cuddy acquiesced.

"What time should I put her down for the night?" Chase asked.

"Anytime between eight and eight- thirty," she replied.

Chase nodded, holding his arms out, waiting for Cuddy to hand Rachel over to him.

Cuddy stood there for a moment, still holding her daughter in her arms.

"You sure you can handle this?" she asked, a bit nervously.

"You sure _YOU_ can handle this?" he asked back, teasingly.

Cuddy exhaled, rolling her eyes.

"All right," she said.

She then kissed Rachel's cheek and finally handed her over to Chase, who took her into his arms and held her on his hip as if he'd done it a thousand times.

"I left both my cell number and the number of the Country Club on the fridge. They'll page me if you can't reach me on my cell," she told him.

"We'll be fine. Go," Chase said.

"Call if you need anything," she reminded him.

"Mummy's a worrywart, isn't she?" Chase said to Rachel, making a goofy face at her and tickling her tummy once more, making her laugh again.

Cuddy laughed, looking at the two of them fondly.

Bobbing Rachel on his hip, he turned his attention to Cuddy, noticing that the shimmering deep blue fabric of her dress was bringing out the sparkling blue color in her eyes.

And that it was absolutely breathtaking.

"You're a lifesaver, Chase," she told him gratefully.

Chase smiled at her softly.

"Have a good time and don't worry about us. We'll be fine," he assured her.

"…Ok," she said.

She gave Rachel one more kiss before grabbed her black beaded clutch bag off the kitchen table.

As she headed back through the foyer, her high heels clicking against the hardwood floor, she felt butterflies in her stomach.

But she had no idea if it was because she was nervous about leaving Rachel with Chase, or if it was because of how he had reacted upon seeing her in her dress.

"_STOP IT. HE WAS JUST BEING NICE. PLUS, HE'S MARRIED, AND HE'S YOUR EMPLOYEE_," she told herself firmly as she walked down the path to her car. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Meanwhile, inside the house, Chase had placed Rachel in her high- chair at the kitchen table, washed his hands, and started taking out the small pink Tupperwares that contained Rachel's dinner out of the refrigerator.

He chuckled when he saw that, in fact, Cuddy had labeled every single container.

"Mmm. Macaroni and cheese… diced cooked carrots… and peaches," Chase said, reading the neatly hand- written labels affixed to the white lids on the pink containers.

"_Ba_!" Rachel declared, clapping her hands.

Chase looked up and laughed after a moment as he placed the containers on the kitchen table.

He then pulled up a chair in front of her at the table, sat down and took off the lids of the containers.

Grabbing a toddler spoon that Cuddy had laid out on a paper towel for him off the table, he scooped up a small bit of the pasta and began to bring it to her mouth.

But Rachel immediately balked, turning her head away, keeping her mouth shut.

Chase withdrew the spoon. "Oh, come on, sweetie. It's yummy. Mummy made it," he coaxed her.

"_BA!_" she repeated, pointing at the spoon.

Chase paused for a moment, looking at the spoon.

"…You… want to do it _yourself_?" he asked, handing the spoon out to her.

Rachel then reached out and gripped the piece of macaroni that was resting on the spoon with a pincer grasp, using her thumb and index finger.

Chase smiled in great surprise as he watched her placed the small piece of pasta in her mouth.

"What a good girl!" Chase said to her as she chewed.

"_BA_," Rachel stated firmly, pointing at the tiny pink Tupperware.

Chase grinned with a shrug.

"Ok, kiddo," he said, scooping up another small macaroni and holding it out for her to take off the spoon, smiling broadly, as he watched her eat.

As he did so, the memory of Cuddy in her cocktail dress flickered through his mind.

And his smile remained.

TBC…


	3. Chapter 3

**HI EVERYONE!**

**THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING AND COMMENTING!**

**HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :-) **

****************************************************************** **

**CHAPTER THREE: Please read and comment.**

Almost an hour later, Chase had brought Rachel, who was only wearing her diaper, to the Cuddy's master bathroom. Clad only in his jeans and barefoot, he had taken off his t- shirt and socks to avoid getting soaked during her bath time.

He furrowed his brow upon seeing a blue, plastic baby tub in Cuddy's regular tub. He then looked at Rachel in his arms, thinking to himself that Rachel looked like she'd grown out of the baby tub at least a month ago.

"You wanna take a bath in the big girl tub?" Chase asked her as she reached up to his face and placed her tiny hand on his mouth as he spoke.

Chase kissed her fingers and pretended to bite down on her hand by covering his teeth with his lips and playfully taking her hand in his mouth, making her laugh.

Still holding her in one arm, he took the baby tub out of the larger tub and placed it on the floor. He then closed the drain and turned on the water, sticking his wrist underneath the faucet to make sure it wasn't too hot.

Once the tub was filled a couple of inches, he somehow managed to get Rachel's diaper off while holding her at the same time. After tossing the diaper in nearby trash can, he gently placed Rachel in the tub, sitting down on the other side of the tub on the bath mat beneath his feet.

She squealed in delight once Chase sat her down, splashing immediately with a huge smile on her face. Chase laughed and gently rinsed her belly with the lukewarm water with his left hand while holding her securely underneath her armpit with his right hand.

"Yeah, you're a big girl," Chase said affectionately to Rachel, beads of water already decorating his chest as Rachel continued to splash.

Rachel then reached out with her right hand to the recessed shelf in the corner of the tub, where three yellow rubber ducks were sitting.

"You want the ducks?" Chase asked her.

"Da!" Rachel declared.

"Ok, then," Chase said good- naturedly, reaching for the three ducks and giving them to her while maintaining his grip around her body.

As Rachel started to play with the ducks in the water, Chase's cell phone rang in the pocket of his jeans. He dug it out with his free hand and glanced at the caller ID before flipping it open.

"Hey, what's up?" Chase said into the phone.

"You pulling your hair out yet?" Cameron asked on the other end.

Chase snorted. "No," he told her a bit defensively.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"We're having a bath," Chase replied, smiling at Rachel as she held one of the ducks up as high as she could and let it go, causing another splash.

"Cuddy let you bathe her?!" Cameron asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Why not?" Chase demanded lightly.

"Because you're a man and you're not her father?" Cameron replied, insinuating that the notion of Chase bathing Cuddy's daughter was ludicrous and completely inappropriate.

Chase tsked. "I'm a doctor, and Cuddy wouldn't have left me with Rachel if she couldn't trust me."

Cameron snorted. "Apparently," she said, her voice laden with sarcasm.

"What's wrong?" Chase asked bluntly.

"Nothing," she replied vaguely.

He smirked silently, picturing her shrug unconvincingly as she lied to him. He waited only a moment before she cracked.

"I'm just trying to figure out your real motives for volunteering to do this. It's not like the OR needs anything, and if you wanted a raise, I'd know about it," Cameron finally said.

Chase furrowed his brow, feeling very put off by her answer.

"She needed a babysitter and it's not like I had anything _ELSE_ to do," he shot back, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Andrea needed someone to cover her shift," Cameron reminded him wearily.

"And you had to volunteer. _AGAIN_," Chase pointed out.

"We didn't have any formal plans tonight," Cameron argued.

"You ever think that I might just want to spend a relaxing evening with my wife? Between running the Community Outreach Program and volunteering to help cover everyone's shift in the ER when they can't make it, I hardly ever see you," Chase said.

"You see me everyday," Cameron replied dismissively.

"Yeah, at _work_. Figured we were done with quickies in the janitor's closet once we said 'I do,'" Chase snarked.

"Don't pout," Cameron scolded.

Scowling at Cameron's indifference to his feelings, he drifted his focus back to Rachel.

He couldn't help but smile fondly at the sight of her. Her now wet, fine hair was sticking up in different directions as she continued to play with her ducks and splash the water.

"Ba da da," Rachel babbled as she splashed.

"I'm actually surprised that Cuddy was so willing to let you babysit," Cameron commented.

"Thanks a lot," Chase muttered sarcastically, his scowl returning.

"I don't mean it that way. I just meant knowing Cuddy, she'd have a list of questions at least a mile long for anyone that she'd even potentially consider to watch her child," Cameron said.

"Give her a break. She's a working single mother. She does what she can," Chase said.

"No one forced her to adopt a baby. She did that all on her own," Cameron stated flatly.

Chase's eyebrows arched, genuinely stunned by her comment about Cuddy.

"Crap. I've gotta go. See ya later," Cameron suddenly said, hanging up before Chase had the chance to respond or say good- bye.

Chase sighed, knowing that most likely Cameron just had to hang up because the ER suddenly got busy, as it often did.

But lately, he'd been having a harder time shaking off how neglected he'd been feeling by her in the past few months.

Just then, his cell phone rang again. Thinking it was Cameron again, he braced himself for more biting remarks.

But he smiled when he realized that the number on the Caller ID wasn't Cameron's phone.

"Right on time," Chase said cheerily as he flipped open his phone once again, hearing the din of voices and light dinner music in the background on the other end.

"What do you mean?" Cuddy said on the other end.

"I gave you an hour before you called," Chase replied. "You're actually a little late."

Cuddy chuckled. "How's she doing?" she asked.

"Great. We ate most of our dinner and now we're in the bath with our duckies and we're having a great time," Chase replied, grinning at Rachel.

For a moment, Cuddy suddenly had a mental picture of Chase with his shirt off as he bathed her daughter.

"Want to say 'hi' to mummy?" Chase said sweetly to Rachel, snapping Cuddy out of her lovely thoughts.

Chase then put his cell phone near Rachel's face.

"Hi sweetie! It's mommy, and I miss you," Cuddy said on the other end in a loving voice.

"Ma ma ma ma!" Rachel said in response, splashing the water happily, causing all three ducks to float in different directions.

"See? I told you that she's saying 'mummy'" Chase said with enthusiasm.

Cuddy chuckled. "Maybe," she admitted, her smile widening and her heart swelling with love at the thought of her daughter calling her 'mommy' and actually meaning it.  "Oh, by the way, make sure you dry out the baby tub thoroughly and flip it over when you're done. If it's damp, it could get moldy," Cuddy said.

"We're not using the baby tub," Chase replied.

"…You put her in the regular tub?!" Cuddy exclaimed.

"Yeah, why not?" Chase asked, confused.

"Chase, she's too small for the big tub! And she needs support on her back so she doesn't slide underwater—" Cuddy began anxiously.

"Cuddy, she's almost ten months old. She can sit up on her own and I'm holding her," Chase reassured her.

"So how are you holding the phone?" Cuddy demanded.

"I've got two hands," Chase said pedantically.

"… I still think she should be in the baby tub—" Cuddy began.

"Did your mum bathe you in a baby tub?" Chase interrupted.

Cuddy paused for a moment.

"… No," she mumbled.

"And you turned out ok, didn't you?" Chase asked teasingly.

"Debatable," Cuddy quipped, feeling the smile return to her face.

Chase grinned. "You make your speech yet?" he asked.

"We just finished the cocktail hour," Cuddy told him.

"Did you actually HAVE a cocktail at the cocktail hour?" Chase asked.

"Hey, I'm driving AND I'm going to be woken up at least twice in the middle of the night tonight," she replied.

"She doesn't sleep through yet?" Chase asked, furrowing his brow in surprise.

"She was… but lately she's been waking up," Cuddy said.

"So then go have fun while you can. We're fine here," Chase reassured her.

"You guys sound like you're having a lot more fun than I am. I can't wait to get out of here," Cuddy stated in annoyance.

"We are having fun," Chase replied, gazing at Rachel with a soft smile.

Hearing his smile over the phone, Cuddy felt her face soften and a warm feeling spread through her chest.

"I should be home by ten- thirty," she told him.

"Ok," he replied. "See ya then."

After Cuddy said good- bye and hung up, Chase closed his phone with one hand and placed it on the bath mat beneath him.

He then reached for the lavender bottle of Johnson's Bedtime Bath baby wash, squirted a small amount onto his hand and began to lather Rachel's skin gently.

As the fragrant, mild smell of the baby wash engulfed his senses, Chase smiled a bit, realizing that this was the 'perfume' that Cuddy had been wearing for the past month at work. 

---------------------------------------------------------------- 

A little after ten- thirty that evening, Cuddy came home.

She took off her heels in the foyer and padded into the living room, expecting to see Chase on her cream colored leather couch watching TV with his feet up on her coffee table.

But she stopped in her tracks when she saw him sitting there with Rachel sleeping in his arms, her head resting against his chest, Chase's lips barely touching her hair.

"Shhh. She just fell asleep again," Chase whispered to Cuddy.

"When did she wake up?" Cuddy whispered back, moving closer to him.

"About twenty minutes ago," Chase replied. "I think she missed you."

Cuddy smiled affectionately at the sight of her daughter sleeping peacefully on Chase.

The two of them looked gorgeous enough to pose for those '_hottest men with babies_' calendars she'd often seen in bookstores.

"I'll take her," she offered.

"S'ok. I'm good with her. Why don't you go change?" Chase suggested.

"… Ok," Cuddy said, feeling oddly flattered by Chase's courtesy.

As she passed by the kitchen on the way to her bedroom, she did a double take.

She then returned back to the living room.

"Did she eat?" Cuddy asked in a soft voice.

"Mhm," Chase replied.

"…The kitchen's spotless," Cuddy remarked, the shock evident in her voice.

"I know. I cleaned up," Chase said simply.

"You charge by the hour?" Cuddy asked, causing him to laugh in response.

"I'll settle for a drink," he quipped, flashing her one of his dazzling smiles.  

------------------------------------------------------------------- 

After changing into a pair of black yoga pants and a light pink tank top and putting Rachel back into her crib, Cuddy poured two glasses of red wine and brought them back out into the living room.

"Thank you," Chase said, taking one of the glasses from her.

"Thank _YOU_," Cuddy replied, taking a seat on the couch next to him.

"So how was the dinner?" he asked.

"Boring. Except for the big fat check part," she replied.

"You don't like schmoozing?" Chase said, taking a sip of his wine.

"I _HATE_ schmoozing," Cuddy muttered.

"That's like half you job," Chase said with a grimace.

"I'm _GOOD_ at it. Doesn't mean I _LIKE_ it," she pointed out, taking a sip from her own glass.

"Well if you ever have to go out again to a really boring dinner, I'll be happy to babysit Rachel. She's a real sweetheart," Chase said.

Cuddy gazed at him for a moment. She then placed her glass down on the coffee table and propped her knee sideways on the couch, turning to face Chase.

"What's going on with Cameron?" she asked knowingly.

Chase smirked sheepishly, impressed that she figured him out.

"…She's avoiding me," Chase admitted, his face falling slightly.

"Ever since we got back from the honeymoon, she's been covering other people's shifts in the ER… and when she's not doing that, she's busy with the Community Outreach Program…" Chase began.

"…By the time she gets home, I'm either already asleep or I'm getting ready to leave for work the next morning," Chase said with a shrug, taking another sip of his wine.

"This has been going on since the wedding?" Cuddy asked.

"Pretty much," Chase replied in a resigned manner.

Cuddy nodded thoughtfully, staying quiet, deciding that Chase would most likely appreciate it more if she just listened instead of giving him trite, unsolicited advice.

"Before the wedding, there were some issues between us… and… I thought that after we got married, that things would change…" Chase continued.

"Guess that was pretty naïve of me, huh?" he added, in self- deprecation.

"Not naïve. Just… hopeful," she replied gently.

Chase nodded a bit, saying nothing.

"Sometimes I wonder if I forced the issue… of us getting married," Chase said.

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Chase realized that he may have been making Cuddy uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry to unload on you like this," Chase said.

"Don't be sorry. This is the most adult conversation I've had in the past nine months that didn't involve hospital business," she told him.

"Or House," he added.

Cuddy nodded in agreement with a weak smile.

"…When's he coming back from Mayfield?" Chase asked tentatively.

"I don't know. Dr. Nolan still hasn't signed his recommendation to the Board to let him return to work," Cuddy replied, leaning her elbow against the couch, resting her head on her hand.

"Do you want him to return to work?" Chase asked.

"…That's… complicated," Cuddy said after a pause.

"Everything is," Chase commented.

Cuddy smiled. "Sure is."

They sat there on the couch, enjoying a comfortable silence, gazing at each other.

Chase let his eyes trace over her lovely face, how the touches of eye makeup accented her beautiful soft- grey eyes, while she felt captivated by his striking aquamarine eyes and his boyishly handsome smile.

"I should probably go," he said softly.

"You don't want to finish your drink?" she asked, suddenly feeling disappointed at the thought of him leaving.

"No, I do want to finish my drink… but I've got Clinic duty tomorrow morning, and I have a feeling my boss won't like it if I'm late," he said with a playful grin.

Cuddy smiled, biting her lower lip. "Yeah, probably not."

They both got up off the couch and headed for the door.

"Chase, I really appreciate you helping me out. How can I thank you for this?" Cuddy said sincerely, once they reached the door.

"It's not necessary. I told you, if you ever need me again, just let me know," he replied.

Cuddy paused, thinking if what she was about to suggest was a huge mistake.

"… Maybe I can make dinner for you some night?" she suggested.

Chase arched his eyebrow.

"You really want to do that?" he asked.

"Well, you know... if Cameron works late and you don't feel like take- out…" she said.

"We have take- out most nights anyway," he told her with a chuckle, causing her to laugh in response.

"… But… a home cooked meal would be nice…" he admitted.

Cuddy smiled warmly. "Great. Just let me know."

"I will," he said, smiling back.

They stood at the door, staring at each other for a moment.

"Well… good- night," Chase said, leaning over to kiss her on her cheek.

As he did, Cuddy turned her head a bit too much towards him, resulting in Chase's lips landing on hers by accident.

It was just a brush. A tender, fleeting touch of their lips against each other for a brief moment.

But as their lips met, Cuddy felt a delicious chill pass up her spine.

And so did Chase.

The kiss ended as quickly as it began, the two of them staring at each other once more.

Chase swallowed, trying to control the hammering of his heart inside his chest.

"… Good- night," Chase repeated a bit softer.

"Good- night," Cuddy replied, her voice a bit raspy, still thrown a bit by the kiss.

After letting him out, Chase walked down the walkway to his car, touching his lips softly with his fingertips, unable to deny how soft and supple Cuddy's lips had felt against his.

And how he could possibly find a way to feel them again.

TBC…


	4. AUTHOR'S NOTE

Author's note: Please be aware that **CHAPTER THREE** has just been posted on "SAVIORS".

I'm not sure if Story Alerts are working, so I'm trying it this way to let everyone know that I've updated.

Please let me know your thoughts and enjoy!! :-)


	5. Chapter 4

**HI EVERYONE!**

**THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING AND FOR ALL YOUR WONDERFUL POSTS!! I RESPONDED TO THEM INDIVIDUALLY.**

**HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

**THINGS ARE HEATING UP...**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :-) **

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**CHAPTER FOUR: Please read and comment.**

Cuddy woke up the next morning in her sumptuous queen sized bed with a smile on her face.

She felt oddly happy.

Happier than she'd felt in a long time.

At first, she couldn't pinpoint why she was in such a good mood upon awakening. She stretched her arms and legs like a cat underneath her comforter, the soft sheets gliding against her skin.

And then she remembered.

The night before, she'd kissed Chase.

She hadn't meant to kiss Chase. It just sort of happened.

She leaned into his lips a little too far as he moved closer to her to kiss her cheek right before he was about to leave her apartment after babysitting for her.

Their lips just met each other's.

It was an accident.

But it had made enough of an impact on her to give her wonderful, vivid dreams as she slept.

Dreams of Chase's incredibly striking aquamarine eyes penetrating her after their kiss.

Dreams of Chase pushing her up against her front door and kissing her again, passionately, his tongue dancing against hers, his full, soft lips engulfing her mouth.

Dreams of him roughly hiking up the hem of the blue dress she'd worn last night, pushing aside her panties with reckless abandon, lifting her off her feet and thrusting his glorious hard cock inside her.

At least she imagined that it was glorious.

As she recalled the delicious details of her dream, she slipped her hand underneath the silk lacy shorties she'd worn to bed last night and slid her fingers between her now slick folds. Her other hand trailed up underneath her matching lacy camisole to her breast, her thumb teasing her erect nipple.

Unlike all the other times she'd pleasured herself, this time it only took a few minutes to tip herself over the edge. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

At around the same time Cuddy was fantasizing about Chase in her bed alone, Chase was already in the shower, soaping his cock up to the image of Cuddy bent over her desk in her office while he pumped into her from behind.

It wasn't the first time.

He'd fantasized about Cuddy plenty of times.

In plenty of positions and in plenty of naughty, scanty costumes that he had no business imagining her in.

But the desk fantasy was his favorite.

And after their kiss last night, it was the first choice that sprung to his mind that morning in the shower.

As he stroked his now fully erect shaft with lather, his breath became shallow at the thought of her with one of those straight pencil skirts she always wore hiked up her thighs and a scrap of lace that barely passed for underwear torn in half, because he'd ripped it off in a fit of lust.

He stroked himself harder, getting closer and closer to climax as he pictured her looking over her shoulder at him, her eyes half- closed, her luscious ruby red lips parted, and her face flushed with the passion that only he could give her.

He imagined her perfectly sculpted breasts jiggling in rhythm to his deep thrusts. In this fantasy, he'd ripped off her shirt and bra a long time ago.

His entire body shuddered with his orgasm, the stream of water from the showerhead pelting down on him as he heard in his mind the one thing he'd always fantasized about hearing in her sultry alto voice:

"_OH CHASE!_" 

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That morning, at around 8:30, Chase strolled through the main entrance to PPTH with a satisfied smile on his face.

As he relieved the fantasy he'd conjured up in the shower that morning, Cameron was walking towards him, having just finished her double shift.

She was still wearing her pink scrubs from the ER. Her usually neat blond ponytail had fallen with the night's work and was hanging low down her back, a few stray locks framing her face.

She looked exhausted.

Upon seeing her, Chase forced himself to shrug off the delightful haze he was in and plastered a sweet, yet sympathetic smile on his face, one he'd mastered over the years.

Despite the fact that wasn't too keen on how much she'd been working lately and that he'd jerked off to his boss earlier that morning, he really had no desire to make things worse between him and Cameron.

"Hey babe," Chase said as she got closer to him.

"Hey," she mumbled, leaning into him as he gave her a peck on the lips.

"Long night?" he asked.

"Yep," she said matter- of factly.

Chase nodded. They rarely talked about the details of their day or the various patients that they saw unless it was something unusual or had a juicy story attached to it.

"Go sleep," he told her with an affectionate nod.

She nodded in response and began to walk past him.

"Oh, I just remembered. My aunt Marlene called," she suddenly said, turning around once more to face him.

Chase turned back to her.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, barely interested.

"She fractured her leg. She wants me to come stay with her for a few days to help her out," Cameron told him.

Chase furrowed his brow in bewilderment.

"This is your aunt who lives in _CHICAGO_, right?" he clarified.

Cameron exhaled, knowing exactly where Chase was going with that question.

"She doesn't have anybody else who can take care of her," Cameron explained wearily.

"Your parents live fifteen minutes away from her. Why can't they do it?" he asked in annoyance.

"Because my parents are close to seventy years old and they aren't doctors," Cameron pointed out, becoming exasperated.

"She doesn't _need_ a doctor. She needs someone to do her grocery shopping and take her to the bathroom. Why does that have to be you?" Chase asked.

"Because she's alone—" Cameron began.

"And you have to save everyone," Chase stated bluntly.

Cameron pressed her mouth closed, deciding that the hospital lobby wasn't the place to lose her cool.

"She's family," Cameron said as calmly as she could, her irritation increasing exponentially.

"I'm your _HUSBAND_," Chase said, not hiding his anger in the least.

Cameron let out an overly exhausted sigh.

"… I'm too tired to talk about this now," she said.

"Right. Which is why you _TOLD_ me about it now," he said, refusing to let her off the hook.

She glared at him and turned around once again, leaving him standing in the hospital lobby.

But Chase wasn't letting up.

"You knew I'd get pissed off about this. Is that what you're trying to accomplish?" he demanded, following her as she walked away from him.

"No…" she began, turning to face him once more, just wishing that Chase would drop it.

"Then why didn't you wait until I got home later to discuss it?" he pressed.

Cameron paused, looking down at the linoleum floor beneath her feet.

"… Because I didn't want to discuss it," she said under her breath with a shrug.

"You were just hoping I'd say '_fine_' because I'm off to work and I'm in a rush and I'd feel bad that you just came off a double shift and that I wouldn't give you a hard time," Chase deduced with an edge to his voice.

"… Yes," she admitted.

Chase laughed in disgust.

"Go," he stated flatly.

"Rob…" she began.

"Go see your aunt and take care of her. Like you take care of everybody else," he muttered, turning away.

"I take care of people who need to be taken care of," she said, her voice suddenly full of strength that wasn't there before.

Chase turned to face her once more.

His eyes were full of hurt.

"And why do you think I don't need that?" he asked softly.

Cameron only paused for a second before answering him.

"_Because you take care of yourself_," she replied, her voice devoid of any emotion. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

About an hour later, Cuddy was in her office, pouring over the latest version of the hospital budget when she saw Chase heading towards her office through the glass, wearing a pair of light yellow scrubs and a white t- shirt underneath.

She felt her heart flutter in her chest.

She quickly checked her breath, brushed her fingers through her hair, and sat up straighter in her chair, taking a quick peek at her cleavage to make sure just enough, but not too much was showing.

But when Chase entered her office, he didn't look like he was in a good mood.

"Need you to sign this," he muttered, tossing a file folder on her desk.

She glanced at him for a moment with an arched eyebrow. He had a scowl on his face that he definitely didn't have last night when they had kissed.

Knowing that it wasn't the right time to mention any of that, she perused through the file folder, which was full of Purchase Orders for more supplies and equipment in the OR.

"Since when do you hand deliver P.O's?" she asked.

"My boss asked me to," he mumbled.

"He's got a secretary," she pointed out.

"She's at lunch," Chase replied.

"At nine- thirty in the morning?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.

"…It's an early lunch," he finally said after a pause.

"So it's brunch," she clarified, an amused smirk forming on her face.

Chase couldn't help but laugh a bit at her facial expression and how ridiculous the conversation was becoming between them.

"Yeah," he said, his expression softening.

Her smirk morphed into a smile. She motioned with her hand for him to sit in one of the chairs that was facing her desk. He did so, crossing his ankle over his knee, a tiny adorable half smile forming on his face as a lock of blond hair fell into his eyes.

She exhaled through her nose, trying to ignore how ridiculously hot he looked at the moment, wondering how someone could look that gorgeous in a set of OR scrubs.

"What's going on?" she asked, maintaining her outward composure.

"I've complained about my marriage to you enough," he said in a slightly charming manner.

She was shocked to find that she was actually disappointed by that.

She had not only enjoyed their somewhat- kiss and her subsequent fantasy, but she had truly liked the fact that Chase had confided in her last night.

"I don't mind listening," she told him.

Chase exhaled as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"Cameron's going away for an extended weekend to Chicago to help her aunt who just fractured her leg, because she said that she doesn't need to take care of me because I take care of myself," Chase stated flatly.

"Ouch," Cuddy winced.

"Yeah," he mumbled.

She gazed at him, wondering what was the right thing to say.

"You don't have to say anything," he said, reading her mind.

Cuddy chuckled, propping her elbow up on the desk and leaning her face on her hand.

"How'd you know what I was thinking?" she asked.

"What else would you be thinking?" Chase asked.

Cuddy desperately hoped that Chase didn't notice the blush that she felt on her face at his question.

She licked her top lip before pressing them close together, sat up a bit and signed the papers, handed him back the folder in an efficient manner.

Chase kept his gaze on her, a tiny smile creeping across her face at her blush, pretty sure he knew what she'd been thinking.

"Thanks," he said, the smile still on his face as he took the file back.

She nodded, crossing her legs underneath her desk as wetness began to pool in her panties.

He turned to leave, taking the few steps to her door.

But once he placed his hand on the door handle, he turned around to face her once more.

"Were you serious about that dinner invitation?" he asked her.

"Yes," she replied, her clit twitching in betrayal.

"…You busy Friday night?" he asked shyly.

"…No," she said, a bit too coyly.

Chase nodded, turning down his lower lip.

"I'll bring the wine," he offered before walking out.

TBC…


	6. Chapter 5

**HI EVERYONE!**

**THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING AND POSTING!**

**HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

**THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET HOT!**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :-) **

****************************************************************** **

**CHAPTER FIVE: Please read and comment. **

**FRIDAY EVENING: CHICAGO**

That evening, Cameron was sitting on her aunt Ellen's living room couch while she watched Ellen hobble into the room on crutches from the bathroom.

Cameron got up from the couch to help Ellen sit down.

"I've got it," Ellen said dismissively.

Cameron raised both her hands in surrender and smirked a bit. Her aunt, a feisty and blunt woman in her mid fifties, had always been self reliant and never liked people fussing over her.

As she watched her aunt get situated on the couch next to her and prop up her wrapped sprained ankle on a pillow that Cameron had placed on the coffee table for her, she felt a twinge of guilt about lying to Chase about the extent of her aunt's inury.

"Allie, it's always wonderful to see you, but you didn't have to come all the way from New Jersey for this," Ellen said.

"I wanted to help you," Cameron said with a smile.

"For a sprained ankle for an entire weekend? How does your new husband feel about that?" Ellen asked pointedly.

"… He's… fine with it," Cameron said tentatively.

Aunt raised her eyebrow in disbelief.

"So what's going on with you?" Ellen asked, picking up one of the mugs of tea that Cameron had made for them.

"Work is crazy," Cameron replied, happy to get off the topic of Chase for the moment.

"Really," Ellen said.

"Oh yeah. I've been working nights lately, pulling double shifts, and I'm the head of the hospital's Community Outreach Program—" Cameron went on.

"Mmm… sounds like you're swamped," Ellen said, nodding.

"I am," Cameron agreed with lighthearted exasperation as she picked up her own mug.

At this, Ellen shot her niece a pointed look.

"What?" Cameron asked.

"You're the head of the ER. You don't have to work late nights if you don't want to. And the Community Outreach Program is a voluntary commitment, so you don't have to do that if you don't want to either," Ellen stated.

Cameron opened her mouth to say something in her defense, but Ellen's knowing look silenced her.

She slumped back on the couch with a loud exhale as her aunt patiently waited for Cameron to finally admit why she'd come to visit her.

"…I'm not happy," Cameron confessed, staring down at her lap.

Ellen nodded, keeping her thoughtful gaze on her.

"I just got married. We had a beautiful wedding… a great honeymoon…" Cameron began.

"… but then when we got back to Princeton… I don't know… everything just felt… different," Cameron said.

"Different how?" Ellen pressed gently.

Cameron looked up at Ellen for a moment, and then back down at her lap once more.

"Actually, that's not true," she mumbled.

"I don't understand," Ellen said, shaking her head a bit.

"…Before the wedding, I had… doubts… about marrying Robert," Cameron began.

"And I thought that after we got married, that those doubts would've disappeared," she continued.

"But they haven't," Ellen finished for her.

"I love him. I _KNOW_ I love him…" Cameron said in frustration.

"I just don't know if I'm _IN_ love with him," she added glumly.

"And every night, I dread coming home to him, because I know that once we go to bed, he's going to want to…" Cameron said, trailing off, thinking of the most delicate way to say the rest of her sentence.

"Have sex?" Ellen offered. Cameron chuckled, disgusted with herself.

"God, that sounds horrible, doesn't it? I don't want to have sex with my gorgeous, Australian husband," she muttered.

"Gorgeous and Australian has nothing to do with it. You can't force yourself to have feelings about someone," Ellen stated.

Cameron miserably looked down at her lap once more.

"I don't have the heart to tell him that I think we made a mistake by getting married," she said in a soft voice.

"So you'd rather _AVOID_ him so eventually _HE'LL_ say it instead of you?" Ellen asked.

"… yeah," Cameron admitted.

Aunt exhaled deeply.

"You sure that's the right thing to do?" Ellen asked.

"…I have no idea," Cameron said wearily.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

At around eight that evening, Cuddy was in her bathroom, putting the finishing touches on her mascara, surprised at how her stomach was doing flip- flops.

Chase was due at her place any minute for dinner, and she was quite excited.

"_CALM DOWN. IT'S JUST DINNER_," she told herself as she critically examined her eye makeup.

Satisfied with what she saw, she then applied some styling crème to her hair, causing her dark waves to perk up a bit. She ran her fingers through her hair to achieve a tousled, sexy look.

Cuddy had already put Rachel down for the night, purposely cutting out one of her naps so she'd be more apt to sleep through and not interrupt her and Chase's evening.

She'd thought about setting the dining room table with candles, but she didn't want to appear as if she'd put any thought into the night whatsoever. It was just supposed to be dinner between friends. A way of thanking Chase for babysitting Rachel when she had to go to that fundraiser.

But the truth was, she'd put quite a bit of thought into the night.

In fact, Chase was all she'd been able to think about for the past few days.

Ever since her and Chase had accidentally kissed a few days ago, she couldn't get him out of her mind.

As she applied a think layer of lip gloss, She kept picturing his soft, full lips against hers. She imagined him pulling her close to her, capturing her mouth in a deep, searching kiss.

And then that's when she'd let her imagination run wild.

He'd skate his palms up to her breast as he moaned into her mouth. She'd feel her knees grown weak under her as he'd fondle her, teasing her nipple over her shirt with her thumb.

And then he'd push her up against the door—

_KNOCK KNOCK._

Cuddy snapped out of her lovely haze at the sound of knocking on her front door. Still in her bathroom, she gave herself a last quick glance in the mirror before heading over to the door.

She stopped right in front of the door, looking down at herself. She was wearing a light pink scoop neck fitted t- shirt that showed off the swells of her breasts and ample cleavage, as well as the curves of her torso and tiny waist, a dark denim mini skirt and flip flops, showing off her toned, shapely legs and the pink pedicure she'd treated herself to that morning.

She took a deep breath to collect herself before she opened the door.

But upon answering the door and seeing Chase standing on her doorstep, she felt her heart start to thump wildly in her chest.

Chase was standing on her front porch, wearing a brown graphic t- shirt and a pair of faded, low- rise jeans and sneakers. His blond locks were framing his face, making his striking aquamarine eyes, his thin layer of scruff, and boyishly adorable smile that much harder to resist.

"Hi," Chase said softly.

"…Hi. Come in," she said, faltering for a moment, wondering how he could possibly affect her with just one word.

"Thank you," he said, still smiling as he entered her home.

Cuddy felt the butterflies in her stomach once again as he walked past her, the subtle scent of his cologne wafting over her.

"Mmm, something smells great," Chase commented. "What's for dinner?"

"Homemade gourmet pizza. I hope that's ok," she said.

"It's perfect," he said with a dazzling smile.

By this point, the butterflies in her stomach felt like they were out of control.

"Where's Rachel?" Chase asked, looking around her living room.

"Oh, I put her to bed early," Cuddy said, trying to sound casual.

"Oh," Chase said, still smiling.

They stood there awkwardly for a moment before Cuddy nodded her chin towards the bottle of wine that Chase was holding.

"Oh I'm sorry," Chase said sheepishly, handing her the bottle.

"Reisling?" Cuddy asked, a bit uncertain as she read the label.

"You'll love it. It's dry, but crisp," he told her.

"I don't know much about wine, so I'll have to take your word for it," Cuddy said with a tiny laugh.

"You really don't drink much, do you?" Chase asked playfully.

"There's a reason for that," Cuddy replied with an arched eyebrow, a bit too flirtatiously than she'd intended.

"_WHY THE HELL DID I SAY THAT_?" Cuddy berated herself silently.

Chase arched his own eyebrow in response, suddenly becoming intrigued.

"And what's the reason?" he asked with interest, trying not to make it too obvious that he was tracing her figure with his eyes and trying to imagine what kind of bra and panties she was wearing underneath her t- shirt and skirt.

"… You hungry?" Cuddy asked instead.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Around an hour later, Cuddy and Chase were in her living room, having polished off most of the medium sized vegetarian thick crust oven baked pizza that Cuddy had cooked and almost half of the bottle of Reisling that Chase had brought with him.

Cuddy had only had a little more than one glass of wine with her dinner, but she could definitely feel its effects.

"This was _AMAZING_," Chase declared sincerely as he wiped his mouth with a nearby napkin.

"I'm glad you liked it. I was afraid that you wouldn't be so keen on vegetarian," she admitted.

"No, it was great. How'd you learn to cook like this?" he asked.

"I took a cooking class years ago at the New School in Manhattan," she replied.

"Sounds like fun," Chase commented.

"Yeah, except that I registered for the wrong class," she said with a sheepish laugh.

Chase raised an eyebrow. "Ok, this should be a good story," he said, leaning back on the couch, holding his glass of wine.

Cuddy tried to ignore the feelings of arousal that had been building inside her throughout their dinner, and how they were intensifying now as Chase crossed his ankle over his knee, taking a casual pose on her couch.

She leaned back as well, crossing her legs, facing him.

Chase glanced at her legs for a moment before focusing on her face once more, his cock twitching in his pants.

"I only took the class to meet professional single men," she admitted.

"Dr. Cuddy, I'm _SHOCKED_," Chase declared in mock surprise, placing his hand dramatically on his chest.

"Yeah, I'm sure you are," she said, grinning.

Chase smiled at her again, sneaking a peek at the curves of her breasts that were teasing him mercilessly from the scoop neck of her t- shirt.

"Anyway, by accident I wrote the wrong code on the registration form and wound up in 'Cooking Romantic Dinners For Couples,'" she said.

"Whoops," Chase stated, wincing.

"The class was made up of three disgustingly happy couples… and me," she deadpanned.

"Was the teacher single at least?" Chase asked, holding back a laugh.

"Yep, she sure was," Cuddy replied.

At this, Chase laughed out loud. "Oh, you couldn't get a break."

"Nope," she said, her smile broadening.

"But I was too stubborn to drop the course. I took all six sessions," she declared proudly.

"By yourself?" he said in surprise.

"Yep. I actually learned to cook, and I met some nice people," she said.

"Well you definitely learned a lot. I haven't eaten this well in a long time," he said.

"Thank you," she said, feeling his compliment wash over her.

He gazed at her, taking a thoughtful pause.

"You know… not many women would've seen it through in that situation. They would've quit the class after the first session," he commented.

"Well, I figured if I can handle House, I can pretty much handle anything," she replied with a shrug, gazing back into his eyes.

"Did you ever tell House about the class?" he asked, feeling the front of his pants becoming tighter as he got lost in her soft blue- grey eyes.

"No way. I'd never live it down. It was bad enough he stalked me on a blind date once," she told him.

"He stalked you on a blind date?!" he asked, his entire face brightening with amusement.

"Showed up at the restaurant and knocked on my door after we came back here," she said, propping her elbow on the couch and leaning on her hand.

"You actually answered the door?" Chase asked.

"My bra was off, too," she confessed, running her fingers through her hair.

At this, Chase's eyes almost popped out of his head.

It took a moment for Cuddy to realize what she'd just said.

But when she did, her jaw dropped slightly.

"I can't believe I just told you that," she said, still stunned at what just fell out of her mouth.

Chase's face morphed into an open mouthed grin.

"Guess I know the reason why you don't drink much," he joked, placing his wine glass back on the coffee table.

She giggled. "Yeah, my inner censor turns off when I'm tipsy."

Chase kept his smoldering gaze on her, knowing that what he was about to say was probably a bad idea.

But at that moment, as he drank in the natural beauty and sex appeal that radiated from Cuddy, he realized that he truly didn't care.

"…I like it," he said softly.

Cuddy giggle tapered off slowly, feeling a blush form on her cheeks, thoroughly enjoying the way he was staring at her.

"What else happens to you when you've had a little too much to drink?" he asked in the same soft tone.

Her blush deepened.

"I can't tell you that," she replied in a slightly sultry tone, a raven curl of hair falling into her eyes.

"You're blushing," he said.

"It's the wine," she replied.

He then leaned forward and gently brushed away the loose lock of her hair that had fallen into her eyes.

"You sure?" he asked, his gaze penetrating hers.

Cuddy could hear her heart thumping in her ears.

"…No," she admitted.

They stared at each other for a moment longer, not daring to speak.

"… Something's happening between us… isn't it?" she asked him in a throaty alto tone, finally breaking the delicious tension between them.

Chase nodded in reply.

He then leaned forward, closing the tiny distance between them on the couch and brushed his lips against hers once.

Just once.

As their lips parted, they both pulled back a bit, their breathing shallow as their gazes locked on each other.

"_FUCK IT_," Cuddy thought to herself.

She was going for it.

She cupped Chase's cheek and pulled her closer to him once more for another kiss. Chase immediately wrapped his arms tightly around her, moaning into her mouth as their lips came together passionately.

She wound her arms around his neck, completely giving into his kiss. His lips enveloped hers languidly, slowly, as if he was trying to search deep within her.

She gasped as he reached up to cup her breast gently, deepening their kiss, his tongue exploring hers.

She parted her lips even more, encouraging him on.

He fondled her breast over her t- shirt, circling her erect nipple with his thumb, shifting his weight to lower her body down onto the couch.

And that's when Rachel cried out from her bedroom.

Chase and Cuddy immediately broke off their passionate kiss, stunned for a second.

"I should go in there," Cuddy said.

"Of course," Chase said, sitting up straighter.

"I'll be right back," she assured him, getting up off the couch quickly.

Chase exhaled deeply, raking his fingers through the front of his hair.

He stared down at the bulge in his pants. His cock was now painfully and fully erect in the confines of his jeans.

As a reflex, he wiped his mouth and gazed at his fingertips, which had a bit of Cuddy's rose- colored lip gloss on them.

And at that moment, as he stared down at his stained fingertips, Chase realized that he'd crossed a line that he never expected to.

TBC…


	7. Chapter 6

**HI EVERYONE!**

**THANKS FOR BEING SO PATIENT.**

**HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :-) **

**-------------------------------------------------- **

**CHAPTER SIX: Please read and comment.**

"… Something's happening between us… isn't it?" Cuddy asked Chase in a throaty alto tone, finally breaking the delicious tension between them.

Chase nodded in reply.

He then leaned forward, closing the tiny distance between them on the couch and brushed his lips against hers once.

Just once.

As their lips parted, they both pulled back a bit, their breathing shallow as their gazes locked on each other.

"FUCK IT," Cuddy thought to herself.

She was going for it.

She cupped Chase's cheek and pulled her closer to him once more for another kiss. Chase immediately wrapped his arms tightly around her, moaning into her mouth as their lips came together passionately.

She wound her arms around his neck, completely giving into his kiss. His lips enveloped hers languidly, slowly, as if he was trying to search deep within her.

She gasped as he reached up to cup her breast gently, deepening their kiss, his tongue exploring hers.

She parted her lips even more, encouraging him on.

He fondled her breast over her t- shirt, circling her erect nipple with his thumb, shifting his weight to lower her body down onto the couch.

And that's when Rachel cried out from her bedroom.

Chase and Cuddy immediately broke off their passionate kiss, stunned for a second.

"I should go in there," Cuddy said.

"Of course," Chase said, sitting up straighter.

"I'll be right back," she assured him, getting up off the couch quickly.

Chase exhaled deeply, raking his fingers through the front of his hair.

He stared down at the bulge in his pants. His c*ck was now painfully and fully erect in the confines of his jeans.

As a reflex, he wiped his mouth and gazed at his fingertips, which had a bit of Cuddy's rose- colored lip gloss on them.

And at that moment, as he stared down at his stained fingertips, Chase realized that he'd crossed a line that he never expected to.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Cuddy dashed into the kitchen, quickly grabbed a half- filled bottle of formula from inside the refrigerator and hurried into Rachel's room.

Rachel had already pulled herself up to a standing position in her crib and was still crying.

"S'ok. Mommy's here," Cuddy said in a sweet, reassuring tone as she picked her daughter up out of the crib.

Cuddy then settled into the cushioned rocking chair in the corner of Rachel's room, held her in her arms and placed the bottle in her mouth, which Rachel began to suck eagerly.

Like clockwork, after drinking a few ounces of the formula, Rachel's eyelids began to droop and the long draws she was taking out of the bottle began to slow down.

"Great timing kid," Cuddy muttered with a half- smile as she began to fall into a deeper sleep.

As Rachel finally fell completely asleep, Cuddy just hoped that Chase was still waiting for her in the living room.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

A few moments after putting Rachel back down in her crib, Cuddy raked her fingers through her hair and smoothed down her t- shirt as she returned to the living room.

But she stopped in her tracks when she saw that Chase was putting his sneakers back on.

"… You're leaving?" Cuddy asked, the disappointment evident in her voice.

Chase looked up, flicking the stray lock of hair off his forehead, his face still flushed from their passionate kiss a few moments ago.

He then stood up quickly, his left sneaker still untied.

"… I've… got an early surgery tomorrow," he fumbled awkwardly.

Cuddy paused for a moment, thrown off by his excuse.

"… Ok…" she said, not sure that she believed him.

"I know that sounds like a line, but—" he began, sensing her skepticism.

"It's ok. I understand," she interrupted, holding her hand up a bit as she spoke.

Chase could feel the tension between them as he stepped closer to her, closing the distance between them.

"I'm not saying I didn't like it, because I did—" he said.

"Chase, it's OK," she started to say.

"I just think we both might regret--"

"You don't have to explain it to me," she assured him, interrupting him again.

He drew in a breath, tracing her entire face with his eyes, which were filled with a mixture of longing and remorse.

And then he smiled softly.

"Thanks for dinner," he said.

She nodded, forcing a smile and avoiding the heartache that was welling up inside her.

"Sure," she said.

He then leaned over and kissed her on her cheek. She closed her eyes, feeling even worse as his lips made contact with her skin, his scruff brushing against her.

"G'night," he whispered.

She stood in the middle of her living room and watched him walk out, hearing her front door click shut as he left.

For a moment, she remained there in a daze, trying to make sense of the whirlwind of heated passion that had built between them and its equally abrupt end.

She exhaled deeply, and turned around to go back to her bedroom, bracing herself for another miserable night of self- gratification when she heard a knock at her door.

Rolling her eyes in exasperation, she turned on her heel and trudged over to the door.

Her breath audibly caught in her throat when she saw Chase standing in the doorway, his eyes sparkling intensely.

"What am I, crazy?" he breathed, reaching for her once more.

She pulled him back into the foyer, grabbing his t- shirt with both hands as he somehow managed to shut the door behind him with his foot.

They kissed frantically, moaning against each other's mouths, wrapping their arms around each other.

As they kissed, they quickly peeled off each other's t- shirts, their lips barely parting as they did so, pulling each other close again, groaning at the feeling of their bodies pressed against each other.

Chase reached behind her back and deftly unhooked her bra with a flick of his thumb and index finger, causing her to gasp in delight.

He roughly pulled it down, revealing her perky, voluptuous breasts.

"Oh god…" he moaned at the sight of her.

Leaving her bra still loosely hanging on her arms, he grabbed her right breast, taking her pouty pink nipple greedily into his mouth. She squealed in response, her nipple hard and erect between in his lips.

As he suckled vigorously, fluttering his tongue against her peak, he backed her up against the door, gripping her ass possessively over her short denim skirt.

"_Oh_!" she cried out.

"_Mine_," he said in a gutteral tone against her breast, his accent thickening with his passion.

Cuddy gasped for breath, her clit squeezing between her legs at the sound of his voice.

"Tell me this gorgeous ass is mine and not his," he demanded roughly.

Cuddy eyes widened tremendously at how forceful he was being with her and how bold he was to mention House at this moment, even if not by name.

And she honestly loved it.

"It's yours," she breathed.

"_NOT_ his," he insisted.

"No… not his…" she managed to say.

He hiked up her denim skirt, skating his palms over the sides of her creamy, supple thighs, his fingertips brushing against the lace band of her thong panties.

She quickly unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans, shoving down his pants. His dusky dark pink erection sprang free as she did so.

His pants and boxers almost down to his knees, Chase shoved her very moist scrap of panties aside and plunged deeply into her, lifting her off her feet.

"Oooh!" she whimpered as he filled her up, her mouth agape as he thrust inside her, pushing her pelvis desperately against him as she wound her legs around his back.

They moaned with every thrust, holding each other desperately as their lust and passion grew. Chase buried his face in her neck, pounding into her, holding her as tightly as he could against him.

Too soon, ecstasy rose to meet them. Her tight, wet walls squeezed his cock, milking him of his orgasm. He exploded inside her with such force that he saw colors beneath his eyelids. She tipped over the edge hard and fast, biting her lip as hard as she could so her cry of pleasure wouldn't wake Rachel.

They gulped for air in shallow, heavy breaths, riding out their orgasms.

As they slowly began relax, Chase leaned heavily against her, still pressing her up against the door, the both of them still breathing hard.

She slid her legs down the sides of his body slowly, hoping that she wouldn't collapse as her feet made contact with the floor.

Chase held her around her waist as she regained her footing, burying his face in her hair.

"Do you think… she'll wake up again?" Chase murmured.

"… She shouldn't…"

Chase swallowed, still trying to relax his breathing.

"Come on," he told her.

He then scooped her up off her feet in one motion and carried her back to her bedroom.

The second time was slow and easy.

Having shed the rest of their clothing, they were completely naked underneath Cuddy's earth- toned comforter.

As they made love, Cuddy arched back with each of Chase's deep, decadent thrusts, her chest rising and falling as the most wonderful feelings surged through her.

Feelings she hadn't experienced for so long, that she almost thought she wasn't capable of having them.

Her face flushed, her long beautiful lashes grazing the tops of her cheekbones, Chase couldn't take his eyes off her.

She was absolutely breathtaking.

Her lovely neck exposed as an offering to him, he lowered his head and sucked on her skin ever so gently, reveling in her sweet, yet salty taste.

He tried to memorize the feel of her toned, shapely thighs against him, the feel of her body underneath him.

How tight she felt around him.

Cuddy slowly trailed her palms up and down his back and shoulders, which were glistening with a thin film of sweat. She finally reaching his neck, threading her fingers through the back of his hair.

They both drew in a breath, their eyes locked on each other, their lips parting simultaneously as her velvety walls contracted against his cock once again.

He watched her intently as the waves of pleasure crashed over her.

"Oh Chase…" Cuddy squeaked out, her second orgasm overtaking her.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Afterwards, they lay together underneath the blanket, his arms wrapped around her, she lying against his chest, enjoying the afterglow and a wonderful silence.

She caressed his smooth, toned chest as she draped her leg over his. He smiled a tired, yet incredibly satisfied smile, lightly running his fingertips against her arm.

"Are you comfortable?" he asked in a raspy voice.

"Mmmm…" she replied, a grin playing about her lips.

She began to trail slow, soft kisses across his chest to his nipple, licking around the edge when Chase asked a question that snapped her out of her afterglow.

"How often does Rachel wake up during the night?" Chase asked.

Cuddy abruptly stopped her ministrations and raised up off his chest, her eyebrow arched in great surprise.

"Interesting subject choice for pillow talk," she quipped.

"I'm serious," he asked.

"…Once or twice a night. It varies," she replied, not entirely sure why he'd be asking her this, especially now.

"You ever think about sleep training her?" he asked her.

At this, Cuddy furrowed her brow.

"You mean letting her cry it out?" she asked him.

"Well… yeah," he said with a shrug.

A curt chuckle escaped her lips.

"No way," she declared.

"I know it sounds cruel, but it works," he told her, gently brushing a stray lock of hair out of her face.

"Your extensive experience babysitting tell you that?" she asked, a bit harsher than she intended.

"No… my _MEDICAL_ experience tells me that. All the literature praises the Ferber method—" he began.

"I don't need you to tell me how to take care of my child," she said in a clipped tone.

Slightly taken aback by her brusque demeanor, Chase merely stared at her, his eyes widening a bit.

She then disentangled herself from his embrace and rolled away from him, pulling the blanket over her naked body.

Chase was stymied.

He scooted up behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist, wondering what the hell he had said that upset her.

"I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you…" he apologized.

"Go home, Chase," she said coldly.

Feeling as if he'd been slapped by her statement, he stared at her for a moment longer before silently getting out of her bed, dressing in the darkness.

Cuddy didn't bother to turn around to face him or to say anything.

He swallowed, now fully dressed again, feeling hurt and stupid at the same time, still having no idea what he did wrong.

"I'm sorry," he repeated a bit softer.

Cuddy pressed her lips together as he left her bedroom, refusing to let her emotions get the best of her.

TBC…


	8. Chapter 7

**HI EVERYONE!**

**THANKS FOR READING AND COMMENTING!**

**HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :-) **

*************************************************************** **

**CHAPTER SEVEN: Please read and comment.**

"Go home, Chase," she said coldly.

Feeling as if he'd been slapped by her statement, Chase stared at Cuddy for a moment longer before silently getting out of her bed, dressing in the darkness of her bedroom.

Cuddy didn't bother to turn around to face him or to say anything.

He swallowed, now fully dressed again, feeling hurt and stupid at the same time, still having no idea what he did wrong.

"I'm sorry," he repeated a bit softer before leaving her alone in her bed.

------------------------------------------------------------------

During the entire ride home, Chase replayed the scene with Cuddy in his mind, trying desperately to figure out what he had said to offend her.

"_YOU__ EVER THINK ABOUT SLEEP TRAINING HER_?" he had asked her.

"Y_OU MEAN LETTING HER CRY IT OUT?_" she had asked him. "_NO WAY_."

"_I KNOW IT SOUNDS CRUEL, BUT IT WORKS,_" he had replied.

"_YOUR__ EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE BABYSITTING TELL YOU THAT?_" she had asked him with an edge to her voice.

"_NO… MY MEDICAL EXPERIENCE TELLS ME THAT. ALL THE LITERATURE PRAISES THE FERBER METHOD—"_

"_I DON'T NEED YOU TO TELL ME HOW TO TAKE CARE OF MY CHILD,"_ she had cut him off in a harsh, clipped tone.

Chase had never imagined that his innocent comment about sleep training Rachel would lead to Cuddy kicking him out of her bed.

Especially since he had given her two mind- blowing orgasms that night.

Chase shook his head to clear his mind as the events of the evening sunk in.

He cheated on his wife.

With Cuddy.

His boss.

And it was absolutely fucking incredible.

As he pulled up into the driveway of his and Cameron's condo, his cock swelled with the memory of pressing Cuddy up against the door, hiking up her demin skirt, shoving her damp panties aside and thrusting inside her.

She'd clung to him desperately, like a life raft, panting and moaning in ecstasy, wrapping her legs tightly around him while he had fucked her wildly against the door.

And then he brought her to her bedroom for more.

And it was different.

It was slower. Tender.

Almost loving.

As he headed up the front walk, he suddenly realized that his cock wasn't the only thing that had swelled.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

**THE NEXT DAY: SATURDAY MORNING:**

The next morning, Chase woke up alone and bleary eyed in his and Cameron's bed to the sound of his cell phone ringing.

Still half- asleep, he rolled over to the night stand and flipped open the phone without bothering to check the caller ID.

"'Lo?" he asked in a rough voice.

"You still asleep?" Cameron asked on the other end with a laugh.

At the sound of Cameron's voice, Chase's eyes flew open.

He glanced at the clock, which read ten AM.

"Uhhh… yeah," he said.

"You and Foreman must've stayed out late last night," Cameron remarked.

At this, Chase blinked once.

For the last several months, Chase and Foreman had developed a weekly ritual after work in which they'd go out for a few beers, complain about their jobs and their relationships.

"Yeah. He and Thirteen aren't getting on lately," Chase replied, seizing the opportunity she had just given him without knowing about it.

"Maybe because he still calls her '_Thirteen_,'" Cameron quipped.

Chase laughed. "Maybe," he said, relieved.

"How's your aunt?" Chase asked as casually as he could, hoping that she wouldn't be able to tell that he was lying about spending the evening with Foreman.

"…Coming along," Cameron replied after a pause.

He was so preoccupied with his own thoughts that he didn't realize how vague her answer was.

"…I'm… gonna stay with her through the weekend. She could really use the help and the company," Cameron added.

"Ok. So you'll be home Sunday night?" he asked.

"Actually… I won't be home until Monday morning," she said tentatively.

Chase furrowed his brow. "Why?"

"I can't get a flight until then," she lied.

"…You can't get a flight out of Chicago to Newark all day Sunday?" he asked, the skepticism clearly evident in his voice.

"I'm sorry," she said in a regretful tone.

"What are you gonna do about work?" he asked.

"I'll come right to the hospital and change into a set of scrubs there," Cameron said.

Chase grimaced almost in amusement.

Her quick answer to his question indicated that she had obviously planned out the details ahead of time.

"I should go. I've gotta help my aunt. I'll call you later, ok?" Cameron asked him.

"… Ok," Chase replied.

"Bye," Cameron said quickly before hanging up.

When Chase hung up, he was positive of two things:

Cameron was lying about the flight out of Chicago.

And Cameron was trying to delay sleeping in the same bed with him for as long as she possibly could.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Later that morning, Chase went to a local diner near campus for breakfast.

Deciding to sit at the counter so he could scope out all the customers who entered the establishment, he nursed a cup of coffee while he read the paper, and waited for the perky redheaded waitress behind the counter to bring out the western omelet and toast he had ordered.

As he absentmindedly browsed through the paper, he could hear bits and pieces of a heated conversation that was taking place near the hostess station at the front of the diner.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. We don't allow strollers," the hostess said.

"Why not?" a familiar female voice asked.

Chase immediately looked up, recognizing the voice.

Cuddy was standing at the hostess station with Rachel, who was sitting in her Maclaren stroller, chewing on a plastic teething ring and looking up with wide eyes at the woman in front of her who was talking to her mother.

"Because a stroller blocking the path of others is a fire hazard and can also cause one of our wait staff to either trip or spill something on your kid," the hostess replied in a clipped tone.

"Then where exactly is my _CHILD_ supposed to sit?" Cuddy asked.

"We can give you a seat that attaches to the side of the table," the hostess told her, trying to maintain her professionalism.

"And you think those seats are less of a liability than a stroller?" Cuddy asked incredulously.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. That's our policy."

"Well your policy SUCKS," Cuddy declared, her voice cracking at the end of her sentence.

Chase widened his eyes in shock at Cuddy's words.

He then watched as Cuddy promptly turned Rachel around in her strolled and left the diner in a huff.

He then tossed some money on the counter and left the diner, not bothering to wait for his western omelet and toast.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Cuddy pushed Rachel back down the ramp that led from the diner to the parking lot towards her car, trying to shrug off the confrontation she had just had with the diner hostess.

"Lisa!" Chase called out after her.

At the sound of Chase's voice, Cuddy didn't turn around.

She knew exactly who that voice belonged to, and she had no desire to deal with him at this moment.

"Lisa, _WAIT_!" Chase insisted, now jogging up to her.

Cuddy exhaled loudly and turned around, a weary look on her face.

"What?" Cuddy asked him.

Chase stopped in his tracks, only a few feet away from her.

For a moment, he had absolutely no idea what he wanted to say to her.

"I saw you in the diner," he finally said.

She chuckled curtly. "Did you enjoy the show?" she asked in disgust, turning away from him once more and towards her car.

But Chase touched her shoulder gently, causing her to reluctantly turn around.

"You're upset," Chase said.

"No I'm not. I'm _ANGRY_. There's no reason why I couldn't bring the stroller in—"

"If you were angry, you wouldn't have given up so easily. You would've demanded to see the manager and fought it out with him until he eventually allowed you to keep the stroller _AND_ taken money off your bill for giving you a hard time," Chase interrupted her.

Cuddy couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Guess I'm not in the mood to do battle," she admitted.

Chase smiled at her softly.

"Feel like telling me why over breakfast?" he asked.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Around fifteen minutes later, Chase and Cuddy were sitting at an outside table at a nearby Starbucks, enjoying vanilla lattes and pastries that Chase had purchased for them.

As Cuddy sipped her coffee, Chase smiled at Rachel fondly while she sat in her stroller, happily eating Cheerios with her fingers out of a tiny purple Tupperware that Cuddy had brought for her.

"She's a good girl," Chase said affectionately.

Cuddy took a sippy cup of juice out of her travel bag and placed it on Rachel's tray for her.

"She woke up twice last night after you left," Cuddy said.

Chase immediately pressed his lips together, determined to stay quiet this time.

Cuddy sighed in defeat. "You were right. I have to sleep train her."

"It was just a suggestion," Chase said as nonchalantly as he could.

"If I don't do it, I'll never get any sleep," she admitted.

Chase gazed at Cuddy as she leaned her face against her hand and propped her elbow up onto the table.

He had to admit that she looked a little tired.

But dressed casually in a scoop neck white t- shirt and a pair of cut off jeans, she was still incredibly gorgeous.

"I just don't know how I'm going to be able to listen to her crying for me from her bedroom without my heart breaking," Cuddy said.

Chase nodded. "So then don't do it unless you're sure."

Cuddy took her eyes off Rachel for the moment and focused on Chase. A wonderful, warm feeling spread through her as she did so, followed by an incredibly empty feeling right after it.

"I didn't want you to leave last night," she admitted softly.

"I didn't want to leave, either," he replied.

"I'm sorry I kicked you out," she apologized.

"Why did you?" he asked.

"Because not a day goes by that I don't think I _suck_ at this," she confessed.

Chase raised his brow in genuine surprise at her admission.

"I question _EVERYTHING_. Did I feed her too much or too little? Am I letting her sleep too much during the day or not enough? Should I quit my job and be home with her so I don't miss all the wonderful things she can do or will that interfere with her socialization because she's in a daycare program with other children—" she ranted.

"And when I suggested that you sleep train her, all I did was reinforce your insecurities," Chase interrupted her gently.

Cuddy nodded glumly.

"You don't suck at this," he told her, placing his hand on top of hers and caressing her skin.

Cuddy merely shrugged, enjoying his touch.

"You're just overwhelmed because you're doing this by yourself," he explained.

"I don't know if I'm happy or miserable that you're this sweet and understanding," he muttered.

Chase laughed softly.

Cuddy looked up from their hands and gazed into Chase's sparkling aquamarine eyes.

"What do we do now?" she asked, almost shyly.

"I have no idea," he admitted.

They gazed at each other for a moment, their hands still touching.

"You want to kiss me, don't you?" she asked him.

"Yes," he whispered, feeling his heart hammering in his chest.

They kept their eyes on each other, neither of them daring to make a move or to give into the intense feelings that were brewing between them at the table.

"You feel like going to the park?" Cuddy asked him.

Chase tilted his head back at the sudden randomness of her question.

"We always go to the park on Saturdays after breakfast," Cuddy explained.

Chase glanced down at Rachel, who was sipping juice out of her cup, her bright blue eyes that almost matched her mother's fixated on him.

"I'd love to," he replied with a sincere smile.

TBC…


	9. Chapter 8

**HI EVERYONE!**

**THANKS SO MUCH FOR BEING SO PATIENT. I KNOW IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE UPDATED THIS...**

**BUT HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER!**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :-) **

*********************************************************************** **

**CHAPTER EIGHT: Please read and comment.**

Chase and Cuddy drove in separate cars to the park.

On the drive there, Cuddy periodically glanced into her rear view mirror, partly to check on Rachel, who was happily playing with the toys attached to her car seat, making Cuddy smile.

But the times she darted a glance at Chase's car following closely behind hers, she began to feel more and more anxiety about being seen in a public place with Chase.

She had half a mind to turn around and go home, without even telling him what she was doing.

But she knew that Rachel loved going to the park, and she wasn't about to spoil their Saturday.

After almost a half- hour of driving, she finally pulled into a community park on the outskirts of Princeton that she had only been two a couple of times before.

She pulled into a space in the lot, shut off the engine and took a quick look at her reflection in the vanity mirror.

Satisfied with what she saw, she tried to shake off her anxiety.

"_WE'RE JUST TWO FRIENDS ENJOYING A DAY AT THE PARK. NOTHING MORE,_" she told herself firmly.

"_YEAH RIGHT_," she thought a second later.

"Ok, honey. Mommy's going to get the stroller," she told Rachel in a cheery voice.

"Dah!" Rachel declared, pointing outside the window in excitement.

Cuddy laughed. "I totally agree," she replied to her daughter.

She got out of the car and quickly went around to the trunk, so she could get the stroller out before getting Rachel out of her seat.

After placing her folded up MacLaren stroller on the pavement, she saw that Chase was coming towards her at a leisurely pace.

Cuddy could feel her heart start to beat faster as he did.

And at that moment, she suddenly forgot how to unfold and open up the stroller, an action she must have performed at least hundreds of times.

"Need some help?" he asked as he finally reached her, as he watched her struggle with the stroller.

"Nope, I've got it," she assured him, still fumbling with the unlocking mechanism.

Chase arched his eyebrow. "… You sure?"

Cuddy exhaled in exasperation and stood up straight.

"This is usually a lot easier," she admitted.

"You get Rachel out of the car. I'll take care of the rest," he told her.

She nodded, opened up the back door and took Rachel out of her car seat, grabbing her baby bag in the process off the floor of the backseat.

After a few short moments, Chase had managed to figure out the complex mechanisms of the stroller and locked it into place. Cuddy then buckled Rachel in.

As she stood up and met Chase's smile, she drew in a breath, her heart now hammering in her ears.

"I have a quilt in the trunk. We usually find a spot to sit first," she said, almost shyly.

"Sounds great," he said, giving her a sweet smile as he went back to the trunk to retrieve the blanket.

"_CALM DOWN_," Cuddy told herself as she eyes Chase from behind as he dug into the trunk.

"Ok… let's go," she said as calmly as she could.

They started to walk through the parking lot to the entrance of the park.

Cuddy kept a rather brisk pace, her body ramrod stiff as she pushed the stroller, staring straight ahead, refusing to look at Chase. Chase found himself struggling a bit to keep up with her.

"You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" she replied, a bit defensively.

Chase smirked in amusement. "No reason."

Once they entered the park, they found a grassy spot under a large maple tree where they could get some shade from the hot sun.

As Cuddy took the blanket from Chase to spread it out on the grass, their fingers touched.

Cuddy stopped for a moment, her eyes meeting his, her breath catching in her throat.

"Did you want to do this?" he asked her.

"_DAMN, WHY DOES HE HAVE TO BE SO HOT_?" she asked herself.

"No, you can help if you want," she said nonchalantly.

After laying out the blanket, Cuddy took Rachel out of the stroller, placed her on the blanket and took out a set of alphabet blocks and colorful stacking cups out of the large baby bag, which Rachel took to immediately.

Sitting next to both of them on the blanket, Chase stretched out his legs in front of him, crossing them at the ankles, leaning back on his hands as he watched Cuddy smile at Rachel and stack the alphabet blocks with her.

Cuddy suddenly became aware that Chase was staring at her with what could only be described as an enraptured gaze.

"What?" she asked, a nervous laugh bubbling up in her throat.

"Do you have any idea how incredibly beautiful you are at this moment?" he asked her softly.

Cuddy felt an incredibly pleasurable yet nervous tingle spread through her chest at his words.

"You shouldn't say things like that," she told him, looking back down at Rachel.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because then I'll want you to say them all the time," she told him.

"I can do that," he assured her.

She looked back up at him. He was tracing her entire face with his eyes.

But as he moved closer to kiss her, she pulled back.

"No, we can't. Not here," she said.

"We're at a park almost a half- hour away from campus. Cameron's away and House is still in Mayfield. I can kiss you," he said huskily, his lips merely an inch away from hers.

And with that, he gently brushed his mouth against hers, a soft, searching kiss that she never wanted to end.

When they finally and reluctantly broke apart, she licked her lips as a reflex, eliciting a small smile from Chase.

She laughed slightly.

"What is it?" he asked her.

"I just can't get over how calm you are about all of this," she told him.

"What's to be nervous about? We're not doing anything wrong. We're two people enjoying a Saturday at the park," he said.

"Two '_people_,'" she repeated with sarcasm.

"Ok… two '_friends_,'" he offered.

"Friends who are having an affair and one friend is married to someone else," she reminded him.

Chase laughed. "Well, when you say it like that…" he joked, trying to keep the mood light between them.

"I say it like that because that's the way it is," she said simply.

Chase drew in a breath and exhaled, brushing a stray lock of hair out of her face.

"When I'm with you… I feel alive," he confessed, tucking the hair behind her ear, his fingers tracing her jawline.

Cuddy blushed at his words and his tender gesture.

"I _like_ that feeling," he said.

"It's not that simple," she replied in a raspy voice.

"It doesn't have to be complicated. I'm not expecting anything of you. I'll do whatever you say," he insisted.

"You know that Cameron's coming back eventually," she said, realizing that this was the first time since last night that either of them had mentioned her name.

"Not until Monday," he said without missing a beat.

"What about after Monday? What do we do then?" he asked.

"Let's not think about that now," he replied.

She shook her head in protest. "I can't do that."

Chase nodded, glancing down at Rachel, who was perfectly happy playing with her toys.

"…And what if I start to expect things from _YOU_?" she asked him.

At this, Chase looked back up at her.

"I didn't want you to leave last night…" she began.

"…And… I'm not going to want you to leave tonight, either," she continued.

"Then I won't," he assured her.

As they kissed again, this time more insistently, Cuddy could feel her doubts and inhibitions start to slip away, thinking that if this was how good living in the moment felt, then she could get used to it.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later that evening, Cuddy put Rachel down in her crib for the night and returned to the living room.

Chase was waiting for her, relaxing on the couch, his sock- clad feet were up on her coffee table while he perused a few take- out menus that he had found in the drawer of her kitchen.

"You realize that most of these are vegetarian places," he announced as Cuddy came into the living room.

"I'm aware of that. Get your feet off my coffee table," she told him, bumping her legs with the side of her thigh.

"Ooh, aggressive. I like that," he said, removing his feet, flashing her a grin.

She chuckled and sat down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder, sighing happily. He slipped his arm around her while he eliminated one menu after another.

"Sushi could be good. What do you like?" he asked, rubbing the outside of her arm.

"Avocado roll and cucumber roll," she replied, stroking his thigh.

"K. I'll order," he told her, giving her a light kiss on her lips as he reached for his cell phone in his back pocket.

As he waited for someone on the other end to pick up, Cuddy suddenly felt a surge of boldness.

She slid her hand to the inside of his thigh.

"Yes, I'd like to order," Chase said into the phone, spreading his legs a bit at the touch of her hand.

Cuddy bit back a grin as she noticed the bulge in his jeans becoming decidedly more prominent at her touch, her hand inching higher.

"Two avocado rolls, two cucumber rolls… two Ichiban… and two—" he rattled off.

But he gasped in mid sentence when he felt Cuddy's hand cupping his cock over his jeans.

"… C-California roll," he managed to say.

She began to stroke him through the fabric, causing his breath to shallow.

"How long?" he breathed into the phone.

"About nine inches, if my memory serves," she said in a sultry tone.

Chase's eyes nearly popped out of his head at her remark.

She then took her hand off him, slowly got off the couch and straddled his lap in a seductive manner, facing him.

"Tell them to deliver," she ordered him in a throaty tone as she grinded against him.

"Deliver," he promptly said into the phone.

Chase somehow remembered his name and Cuddy's address as she pressed her pelvis against his. He closed his phone shut and tossed it somewhere on the couch.

"How long until the food comes?" she breathed into his ear as she continued to ride him.

"Thirty minutes," he said raggedly.

"We could do a _LOT_ in thirty minutes," she said coyly.

Their gazes only locked on each other before kissing hungrily, his tongue plunging into her mouth.

Never breaking off their kiss, he pulled off her t- shirt, revealing her demi lace bra. He wantonly buried his face in her breasts, holding her possessively around her waist, causing her to arch back.

He skated his hands up her sides to her bra, peeling it down off her breasts.

She whimpered in complete bliss as he suckled delicately on her erect, rosebud nipple, her clit twitching at the feel of his lips on her breast.

He traced his tongue around the outline of her areola, flicking her nipple teasingly with the tip every so often.

"God, Chase…" she breathed.

He gave the same undivided attention to her other breast, his cock throbbing against the inside of his jeans.

And then she had an idea.

She stood up off his lap so he could unbutton her cutoff shorts. She slipped out of them, sliding them down her supple, toned legs, kicking them away from her.

Now clad in only her bra and panties, she kneed his legs apart, tossing her hair off her shoulder.

"I'm hungry," she declared in a smoky voice.

Chase swallowed, not dare hoping that she meant what he thought she meant.

"The guy… said thirty minutes," he stammered.

A sly smile crept across her lips as she got down on her knees in front of him.

He gasped aloud as she unzipped his fly, never taking his eyes off her.

"I think I want an appetizer," she told him.

His eyes went wide, his heart hammering in anticipation.

He shuddered and gasped again as he watched Cuddy pull his fully erect, dusky pink cock out of the slit of his boxers.

"Lisa, wait..." he said.

"What?" she asked.

Chase couldn't even form words at the moment, but she could see his hesitation.

"You know you want it," she told him, her voice raspy with lust.

He nodded vigorously, his breath shallow.

She gave him the sexiest smile he'd ever seen and licked her lips before taking him into her mouth.

The sight and the feeling was overwhelming.

He could barely sit still.

He gripped the cushions of the couch and threw his head back, fighting the urge to thrust into her mouth as she pleasured him, the pressure building up inside him way too fast to his liking.

He tried to think of anything that would make him last just a little longer. He shut his eyes as tight as he could.

But when she began to moan with her lips around his cock, he knew he couldn't hold back any longer.

TBC…


	10. Chapter 9

**HI EVERYONE!**

**I'M GOING TO TRY TO UPDATE THIS FIC AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK.**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PATIENCE, FOR READING, AND FOR YOUR GREAT REVIEWS!**

**HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :-) **

******************************************************************* **

**CHAPTER NINE: Please read and comment.**

Almost an hour later, Chase and Cuddy were sitting on the couch, finishing the sushi that Chase had managed to order while Cuddy was straddling his lap, thrusting her panty- clad core against his cock.

The visions of Cuddy knelt down between his legs with her lips wrapped tightly around his shaft while he gripped onto the couch cushions for dear life, were still vivid in his mind.

And he knew that he wanted to return the favor as soon possible.

Chase took the last piece of the avocado roll that Cuddy had ordered between his thumb and index finger.

"Open," he told her softly, holding it near her lips.

Cuddy demurely opened her mouth and took what Chase gave her, moaning as she savored the taste.

He gave her a lingering once over as she then leaned back against the couch and stretched and closed her eyes in bliss, a satisfied smile on her face.

"Yummy?" he asked.

"Very," she replied.

"Can I snag one of yours?" He asked, gesturing to the two remaining pieces of cucumber roll that Cuddy hadn't eaten.

She leaned forward towards the coffee table, picked up one of the morsels and placed it between her teeth.

"Mhm," she purred, moving closer to him.

He grinned as he took it from her with his own mouth, licking her lips in the process as he ate the cucumber roll, causing both of them to giggle.

"You want that last piece?" he asked her.

"No way. You can have it. I'm stuffed," she replied, swinging her legs onto his lap as she changed positions on the couch.

Chase rubbed her bare feet gently, his anticipation growing.

"…I think I want something sweet for dessert," he said, looking down at her toes.

"I think I have some ice cream in the freezer," she offered.

At this, he met her eyes with a somewhat shy gaze.

For a moment, she didn't understand the meaning behind his look.

But as realization dawned on her, she actually blushed as an intense tingle went straight to her core between her legs.

"… Oh…" she said, her shy tone matching his expression.

"…Now?" she asked.

"Mhm," he said, lifting her foot slightly, brushing his lips against the smooth skin of her instep.

Cuddy suddenly felt a wave of panic hit her. She took her foot out of his grasp and sat up on the couch.

"I should go get Rachel's bottle ready. She's probably going to wake up soon," she said.

"… Ok..." Chase said, completely bewildered at her change in demeanor.

She kept her eyes on him only for a moment longer before quickly getting up off the couch and heading into the kitchen.

Still confused, he followed her. She was already at the counter, pouring formula into a clean bottle for Rachel.

"…Did I say something wrong?" he asked tentatively.

"What? No, not at all," she replied good- naturedly as she closed the top on the bottle.

"I just don't want us to be interrupted later," she explained.

As if on cue, Rachel started crying from her bedroom. Cuddy gave him a sheepish smile.

"Told ya," she said, grabbing the bottle off the counter.

"I'll meet you in the bedroom," she said as she hurried past him, giving him a quick kiss on his lips on the way out of the kitchen.

Chase just stood there, still bewildered.

* * *

A while later, after Cuddy had given Rachel her bottle and put her back down in her crib, she headed down the hallway to her bedroom, where she knew Chase was waiting for her.

And she was a nervous wreck.

Stopping at the door, she took a deep breath and let it out to compose herself before entering the bedroom.

Once she did, she found Chase lying on his side, propped up on his elbow underneath her quilt, his smooth muscular bare chest exposed.

"_DAMN_," she thought to herself, cursing the fact that Chase was undeniably irresistible.

"She asleep?" he asked with a soft smile on his face.

"Mhm," she said, biting her lip, standing at the edge of the bed.

Chase pulled back the covers, reached up and gently took her hand, coaxing her into the bed.

She slowly allowed him to do so, the butterflies flitting around in her stomach as Chase rolled her over onto her back, nestling his body on top of hers, sliding both his arms underneath the pillow her head was resting on.

She drew in a breath at the feeling of his rock hard shaft against her.

He was already completely naked, but she was still wearing the denim cutoffs and t- shirt she had worn to the park that day.

"I see you didn't waste any time," she commented in a throaty tone, trying to sound more relaxed than she actually felt.

"You need to catch up," he murmured against her neck, reaching down to the hem of her t- shirt.

She lifted up slightly to allow him to pull her shirt up over her head, revealing her lacy demi bra. He fondled her breasts over the fabric, kissing the soft, creamy skin of the exposed curves that the bra didn't cover.

"Do you want it off?" she asked, a myriad of confused sensations swimming through her at his touch.

"Not yet…" he whispered.

He trailing his lips down the curves of her breasts over her bra to her abdomen, shifting his position further down the bed.

She tensed as he began to work the zipper of her shorts, willing herself to calm down as he slipped them down past her hips, legs and toes.

He gave her a smoldering glance as he traced her navel with his tongue, causing her to gasp as he hooked his fingers delicately into the lace waistband of her panties.

But when Cuddy placed her hand on top of his to stop his journey, the look in his eyes changed to one of concern.

"You ok?" he asked her.

"Mhm," she said, the nervousness now evident in her voice.

He kissed her stomach tenderly. "What's wrong?"

Cuddy pursed her lips together, taking a moment's pause, hoping that what she was about to say wasn't about to make leave her home and walk out of her life forever.

"…Do you like oral sex?" she asked.

He couldn't help but smile at the question.

"Very much," he replied.

"I mean… I know you like _getting_ it—" she stammered.

"I love giving it, too," he said.

She swallowed and nodded.

"Ok," she said.

But Chase, feeling the tension in her body underneath him, wasn't about to proceed unless he knew that she was indeed ok.

"Do you not want me to?" he asked.

"…I don't know," she admitted.

"Too intimate?" he guessed.

She let out a breath.

"Maybe," she replied in a resigned manner. He nodded in understanding.

"I know. It sounds ridiculous. We've already had sex," she told him apologetically.

"It's not ridiculous," he reassured her, scooting back up higher on the bed, pulling her close to him.

They lay there for a few moments, him running his fingers through her hair, she tracing invisible patterns on his chest, not saying a word, neither of them sure what to do.

"I'm falling for you," Cuddy blurted out, breaking the silence, too afraid to look him in the eye.

Chase looked down at her and lifted her chin so she would meet his gaze.

"I'm not expecting anything from you, but I have Rachel…" she began.

"…And I just don't want to get hurt," she finished.

"I would never hurt you and Rachel," he assured her sincerely.

"You won't mean to…" she said sadly.

"I _won't_," he repeated insistently.

"I told you. I'll do whatever you say. If you want to stop—" he began.

"I _DON'T_ want to stop," she interrupted desperately.

He kissed her slowly yet passionately. Cuddy felt herself falling hypnotic to his kiss, completely unable to stop herself from giving all of herself to him, despite her brain screaming at her why what she was doing was a tremendous mistake.

But as Chase began to kiss down her body once more, she shoved her rational thoughts aside.

He unhooked her bra with his thumb and index finger, peeling it off her, brushing each erect nipple with his lips once. She gasped in pleasure at the sensation of his mouth on her.

He then trailed his lips and tongue down her abdomen, tracing a circle around her navel, her breath shallowing as he inched his way down her body.

He reached the waistband of her panties once more, gently peeling the scrap of silk panties past her hips, legs and toes, in awe at the sight of her.

"_God_, you're so beautiful," he said.

He gently parted her thighs, nuzzling his nose in the soft hair at the apex, moaning in desire.

"Oh god…" she breathed, her heart hammering.

At the touch of his tongue on her labia, she arched her back, a whimper escaping her lips.

He glanced up at her from between her legs, her response to his touch exciting him even more.

He explored every inch of her with his mouth, savoring her, his cock throbbing almost painfully as her scent and taste overwhelmed him.

He fluttered his tongue against her clit, her soft whimpers becoming sexy cries as he felt her wet walls contracting intensely against his mouth.

"Oh! Oh _GOD_, Chase!!" she squealed over and over, feeling herself already tip over the edge.

He moaned gutterally against her pussy as she came, lapping her up hungrily.

As she tried to catch her breath, he crawled back up the bed towards her, licking his lips.

"Taste," he told her, his accent thicker than usual.

"…No," she protested weakly.

"Trust me," he breathed, his eyes heavily lidded with lust as he engulfed her lips with his.

She moaned into his mouth as they kissed, her own sweet taste on her lips surprising her as she felt a renewed sense of arousal at the sensation.

"_Fuck me_," she ordered him breathlessly.

Eagerly, he picked up both her legs, leaning the backs of her thighs against his chest as he pounded into her over and over again hard and fast, causing her to shriek aloud.

She bent her legs over his shoulders, gasping for air at his frenetic pace, unable to keep her eyes open as he gripped her ass possessively.

"Cum for me baby…" he grunted.

Her second orgasm hit her almost on command, causing her to see colored lightly behind her eyes.

Chase shuddered, groaning loudly as he exploded into her.

* * *

**NEXT MORNING, SUNDAY.**

It was around 9 AM.

Cuddy had already been out of bed for an hour and a half, having changed Rachel and fixing her breakfast.

Rachel was happily playing in the Pack N' Play with some soft fabric blocks that Cuddy had set up in the kitchen for her.

Wearing only a camisole and panties, a perpetual satisfied smile remained on Cuddy's features as she cleaned up the dishes from last night and this morning.

Chase was still fast asleep in her bed, but she had no intention of waking him.

Cameron was coming back tomorrow from Chicago, and she wanted to keep him around for as long as possible.

She started to think how she, Chase and Rachel could spend the day together when her cell phone rang.

"Hello?" she asked dreamily, not bothering to glance at the Caller ID.

"House is coming home today from Mayfield," Wilson announced to her on the other end.

Wilson's voice and his statement immediately snapped her out of her reverie.

"… Good morning to you, too," she replied, quite surprised.

"His therapist and I worked out an arrangement. He'll be staying with me for a while. I don't know when he's coming back to work," Wilson continued.

Cuddy remained silent.

"... Just thought you'd like to know," he added.

"… Ok," she finally said.

"Ok," Wilson repeated, hanging up the phone.

At that moment, it occurred to her that she hadn't thought once about House since her and Chase had been together.

As she closed her phone, she realized that if she planned on keeping her affair with Chase a secret, they would both now have to work ten times as hard to do so.

"Guess it's time to wake up Chase, huh?" she asked Rachel with a half- smile.

TBC…


	11. Chapter 10

**HI EVERYONE!**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING, "FAVORITING," AND REVIEWING! :D**

**I KNOW IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE UPDATED. THANKS FOR BEING SO PATIENT.**

**HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :D **

* * *

**CHAPTER TEN: Please read and comment.**

**SUNDAY MORNING.**

"House is coming home today from Mayfield," Wilson announced to Cuddy on the other end of the phone early that morning.

Wilson's voice and his statement immediately snapped her out of her reverie of remembering the delicious details of making love to Chase last night.

"… Good morning to you, too," she replied, quite surprised.

"His therapist and I worked out an arrangement. He'll be staying with me for a while. I don't know when he's coming back to work," Wilson continued.

Cuddy remained silent.

"... Just thought you'd like to know," he added.

"… Ok," she finally said.

"Ok," Wilson repeated, hanging up the phone.

At that moment, it occurred to her that she hadn't thought once about House since her and Chase had been together.

As she closed her phone, she realized that if she planned on keeping her affair with Chase a secret, they would both now have to work ten times as hard to do so.

"Guess it's time to wake up Chase, huh?" she asked Rachel with a half- smile.

* * *

Cuddy made sure that Rachel was safe and secure in the _Pack N Play_ in the living room before she went upstairs to her bedroom.

Chase was still fast asleep in her bed on his stomach, naked, his floppy hair draped over his forehead underneath her quilt.

She sat on the bed for a few moments, smiling softly as she watched him sleep.

She then delicately brushed the hair off his forehead so as not to wake him, knowing that it was ridiculous for her to think that if she left him asleep that they could stay frozen in the moment.

"_God, he looks so young_," she said to herself upon gazing at him.

She then reluctantly kissed his cheek, shaking his shoulder as gently as she could.

"Hey, wake up," she said.

Chase stirred and rolled over onto his back, slowly opening his eyes. He smiled lazily as he focused on her, rubbing her forearm.

"Hey you," he said, his voice rough around the edges from sleep as he reached up to pull her down to him for a kiss.

"House is coming back from Mayfield today," Cuddy stated somberly, placing her hand on his chest to stop him.

Chase furrowed his brow, staring at her.

"He called you?" he asked.

"Wilson did," Cuddy replied.

Chase snorted. "There's a surprise," he mumbled as he rolled over back onto his stomach.

But Cuddy grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back to face her.

"We've got a big problem," Cuddy said.

"Why?" Chase asked with a grimace.

"_Why__??_" Cuddy demanded incredulously. "Because if he finds out—"

"He's not gonna find out," Chase stated with confidence.

"This isn't like keeping it from Cameron. House knows _EVERYTHING_. He'll know we're sleeping together just based on what color tie you wear to work," Cuddy argued.

"So then I won't wear a tie," Chase quipped with an impish grin.

She sighed in exasperation.

"Forget it. It's obvious that you're not taking this seriously," she muttered, starting to get off the bed.

Chase grabbed her wrist, pulling her back down onto the bed.

"I _AM_ taking it seriously," he told her sincerely, meeting her soft blue- grey eyes.

"I just don't think we should panic," he added.

Cuddy avoided his penetrating aquamarine stare and glanced down at the earth- toned quilt.

"…Maybe we should just stop this," she mumbled.

"Is that what you really want?" Chase asked, touching her chin and lifting her face to meet his gaze.

"No, but—"

"Neither do I," he told her.

Cuddy took a deep breath and exhaled, already feeling the weight of the precarious situation they were in bearing down on her.

"Look. We're not idiots. We're not gonna get caught," he told her. "We'll just have to stay a few steps ahead of both of them,"

"…I hope a few steps is enough," she said softly.

* * *

**NEXT DAY. **

**MONDAY MORNING.**

Cuddy was in her office that morning, going over the hospital's quarterly budget report and trying not to imagine all the places in the hospital where she and Chase could sneak off to for an afternoon delight when House walked into her office.

"Hi," House said plainly.

Cuddy looked up from her spreadsheet, her breath catching in her throat upon seeing him.

He was wearing a grey sport coat, a black t- shirt, a pair of worn in jeans and Nike Shox. His hair was cut drastically shorter, and his beard thicker.

But he seemed taller somehow.

And then Cuddy realized that House wasn't leaning on his cane as much as he had before he left for Mayfield.

"Welcome back," Cuddy said.

House nodded downward, his eyes still on her.

"Thank you," he replied.

Cuddy remained at her desk while House remained standing facing her in the middle of her office.

"You look… good," she finally said after a staggering silence.

House didn't reply.

"…Foreman… took over your department while you were gone," Cuddy felt obligated to say.

"Yeah, Wilson told me," House said, shifting his weight and fidgeting with the handle of his cane.

"So… you're living with him now?" she asked.

"Yep."

Cuddy nodded slowly.

The tension between them was so palpable that Cuddy could barely stand it.

"I want my medical license back," House suddenly stated.

Cuddy stared at him blankly, his words catching her off guard.

When House had left for Mayfield, she knew that eventually the day would come that House would be ready to return to work.

She also knew that what had eventually made him decide to voluntarily commit himself to Mayfield was a rather vivid hallucination of she and House having passionate sex in his apartment after dextoxing from Vicodin in one night.

But now that she and Chase were having a passionate affair, she knew that House wanting his medical license back would mean that she would have to oversee the process.

Which meant that House might eventually figure out what was going on between her and Chase.

"… Are you sure that you're ready? Maybe you should take some time for yourself first," Cuddy suggested gently.

"My therapist says that I need to start building relationships with people. The hospital's full of people," House replied.

Cuddy put on her best official administrator face and sat up straighter in her chair, hoping that what she was about to decide wasn't a tremendous mistake.

"I'll let you consult for your team, but Foreman's still in charge and I can't you have any contact with the patients," she stated.

"You really think I'd have a problem with no patient contact?" he quipped.

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said, looking back down at her spreadsheet.

House remained standing in the middle of her office, his eyes narrowing just a bit as he kept his gaze on her.

"You gave into that way too easy," House commented.

Keeping her head down, she glanced at him only with her eyes, trying to convey mild annoyance at his observation.

"You also didn't ask me about how I'm dealing with the pain now that I'm off Vicodin," he added.

"I assumed you were doing better and didn't want to make a big deal about it," she covered quickly.

"_And you also changed lipsticks_," he said with emphasis.

"_SHIT_," Cuddy thought to herself.

"… Yes. I did," she said, maintaining a calm façade.

House arched his eyebrow.

"Interesting," he said before turning around and leaving her office.

* * *

Later that morning, Chase was in the OR ante room wearing blue scrubs and a surgical cap scrubbing in for surgery at the sink when Cameron pushed open the double doors.

"Hey," Cameron said.

Chase turned around, his stomach rising up to his throat upon seeing her.

But he didn't let on.

"Hey," he said, plastering a smile as she walked towards him, giving him a quick peck on his lips.

"How was the flight?" Chase asked, hoping that she couldn't actually hear his heart hammering in his own ears at the moment.

"Good," she replied, nodding.

"How's your aunt?"

"Coming along."

Chase smiled slightly with a nod and turned back to washing his hands.

Cameron took a deep breath, preparing herself mentally and physically for what she was about to say to Chase.

"I lied to you," she blurted out.

Chase turned to her with raised eyebrows, his soapy hands still under the running water.

"I told you that my aunt broke her ankle. She only sprained it," Cameron explained.

Chase furrowed his brow, grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser and nudged the faucet off with his elbow as he turned to face her.

"Why would you lie about that?" he asked.

"Because I needed some time away from you," she confessed, gathering her resolve before she continued.

"I think we rushed into marriage," she stated.

Chase exhaled, a wave of relief washing over him.

"And I know how horrible that sounds, especially after the hard time I gave you about proposing to me and keeping my husband's sperm," she added quickly, holding up her hands in front of her for emphasis.

"_SHE WANTS A DIVORCE. AND IF WE END IT AMICABLY RIGHT NOW, THEN NO ONE GETS HURT_." Chase thought to himself.

He smiled.

"Allison, it's ok—" he began.

"So I want to make things right between us, because I don't want us to wind up hating each other in a few years," she interrupted.

"Neither do I," he agreed, his smile widening.

"I think we should see a marriage counselor," she told him.

Chase was stunned into silence, his throat tightening.

"After all I put you through, you still didn't give up on me or us. You were patient and understanding… and I want to make it up to you," she said.

Still completely caught off guard, somehow a coherent excuse popped into his head.

"By discussing our problems with a perfect stranger?" he asked.

"We'll find someone good and it would be completely confidential," she reassured him.

"How are you going to have time to see a counselor? You're pulling double shifts in the ER and you're the head of Community Outreach—" he protested.

"I'll _MAKE_ the time," she said.

She then touched his arm gently, looking deeply into his eyes.

Chase felt as if his arm was burning under her touch.

"I want this to work," she said sincerely.

At that moment, Chase knew that if he told her that he didn't want to see a marriage counselor that she would conclude that he must have a reason why he didn't want their marriage to work.

And then she'd figure out that he was having an affair.

Just then, Chase's cell phone went off on his hip. He glanced down at it, thankfully out of Cameron's view:

**"3RD FLOOR SUPPLY CLOSET. STAT. –LISA"**

He froze for a moment, having no idea what he should do.

"What's up?" Cameron asked him.

Chase looked up at Cameron and then quickly back down at his cell phone.

"I have to take this," he said before quickly breezing past her and hurrying out of the ER.

* * *

Almost five minutes later, Chase entered the 3rd floor supply closet, quickly closing the door behind him, finding Cuddy waiting for him with an anxious look on her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, suddenly feeling anxious himself.

"House wants his medical license back," she told him, nervously.

"And he noticed that I changed lipsticks," she added.

Chase stared at her as if she was insane.

"_THAT'S_ why I had to rush up here? Because he noticed your _lipstick_?!?"

"He _KNOWS_ something's up," she stated, her throaty alto becoming more pronounced as her anxiety increased.

Chase exhaled deeply and lolled his head back, placing his hands on his hips.

"What?" she demanded.

"Cameron wants to go to marriage counseling," Chase told her.

"… What did you tell her?" she asked.

"Nothing, because you _paged_ me!!" he replied a bit harsher than he intended.

Cuddy flinched at his outburst, which made Chase immediately regret raising his voice to her.

He tsked as he moved closer to her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close against his body.

"I'm sorry," he apologized softly into her ear as he held her tight.

"It's ok," she mumbled. "It was stupid of me to page you about this. I panicked."

He chuckled. "I panicked too when Cameron walked into the OR."

They stood there, still holding each other in silence.

"What do we do now?" she finally asked against his chest, losing herself in his clean scent.

Chase sighed. "I have no idea," he admitted.

She looked up at him as he brushed a stray lock of her hair out of her face.

He then bent down to kiss her, brushing his lips gently against hers, over and over again.

She felt herself being swept away by his soft, full lips. His tongue delicately probed her, begging for entry. She moaned into his mouth as she parted her lips for him, welcoming him eagerly.

Chase's breath became shallow against her mouth as he fumbled with the buttons on her plum colored tailor- fitted suit jacket, slipping it off her shoulders and letting it drop to the floor, revealing an ivory lacy camisole underneath.

She gasped as she felt him cup her breast over her camisole, squeezing it lightly as he skated his thumb across her erect nipple.

She reached down to the bulge in his scrubs, causing him to gasp in return.

He then backed her up against one of the walls that wasn't occupied by a shelf, his lips never leaving hers. She moaned aloud as he roughly hiked up her skirt and slid both his hands down to her ass, grabbing it possessively.

Caught up in the passion between them, he lifted her up off her feet. She instinctively wrapped her legs around him.

"Oh GOD Lisa," he moaned.

"F*ck me, Chase," she begged, thrusting against his hard cock, her panties already soaked in anticipation.

And that's when they both heard a shocked, yet extremely familiar voice.

"_OH MY GOD!!_" the voice exclaimed.

Cuddy and Chase immediately broke off their kiss, Cuddy's legs still wrapped around Chase's waist and Chase's hands still holding her ass firmly, his lips smeared with Cuddy's new lipstick shade when they turned towards Wilson, who was standing in the open doorway of the supply closet, his jaw slacked open, unable to look away from the scene in front of him.

TBC…


	12. Chapter 11

**HI EVERYONE!**

**THANKS FOR READING, ADDING THIS TO YOUR FAVORITES AND FOR ALL YOUR WONDERFUL POSTS!! I RESPONDED TO THEM INDIVIDUALLY.**

**I WILL TRY MY BEST TO UPDATE THIS MORE OFTEN.**

**HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :D**

* * *

**CHAPTER ELEVEN: Please read and comment.**

"What do we do now?" Cuddy asked against his chest, losing herself in his clean scent.

Chase sighed. "I have no idea," he admitted.

She looked up at him as he brushed a stray lock of her hair out of her face.

He then bent down to kiss her, brushing his lips gently against hers, over and over again.

She felt herself being swept away by his soft, full lips. His tongue delicately probed her, begging for entry. She moaned into his mouth as she parted her lips for him, welcoming him eagerly.

Chase's breath became shallow against her mouth as he fumbled with the buttons on her plum colored tailor- fitted suit jacket, slipping it off her shoulders and letting it drop to the floor, revealing an ivory lacy camisole underneath.

She gasped as she felt him cup her breast over her camisole, squeezing it lightly as he skated his thumb across her erect nipple.

She reached down to the bulge in his scrubs, causing him to gasp in return.

He then backed her up against one of the walls of the supply closet that wasn't occupied by a shelf, his lips never leaving hers. She moaned aloud as he roughly hiked up her skirt and slid both his hands down to her ass, grabbing it possessively.

Caught up in the passion between them, he lifted her up off her feet. She instinctively wrapped her legs around him.

"Oh _GOD_ Lisa," he moaned.

"Fuck me, Chase," she begged, thrusting against his hard cock, her panties already soaked in anticipation.

And that's when they both heard a shocked, yet extremely familiar voice.

"_OH MY GOD!!_" the voice exclaimed.

Cuddy and Chase immediately broke off their kiss, Cuddy's legs still wrapped around Chase's waist and Chase's hands still holding her ass firmly.

Chase's lips smeared with Cuddy's new lipstick shade when they turned towards Wilson, who was standing in the open doorway of the supply closet, his jaw slacked open, unable to look away from the scene in front of him.

Cuddy quickly scrambled off Chase, smoothing down her skirt and straightening her camisole. Chase nervously raked his fingers through his hair.

Wilson remained staring at them for a moment, completely dumfounded.

Chase and Cuddy were stunned as well, their hearts racing, neither of them saying a word or making a move.

His shocked expression remaining, Wilson then promptly turned around and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Chase and Cuddy looked at each other, both panicking, having no idea what to do.

She then grabbed a box of tissues on one of the nearby shelves, ripped open the box, and began to wipe the smeared lipstick off Chase's mouth.

"Don't leave for a few more minutes," Cuddy said as she cleaned his face.

"Ok," he nodded.

Cuddy then ran out of the closet, leaving Chase alone.

Out of the corner of his eye, Chase spotted a small bottle of Purell on another shelf. He grabbed it, squirted some of it on the tissue and continued to clean his face.

As he removed the remainder of Cuddy's lipstick, he glanced at his watch, calculating what would be the appropriate amount of time to exit the supply closet without onlookers becoming suspicious. -------------------------------------------------------------------

"Wilson!" Cuddy called out.

Wilson continued his brisk pace, at least ten feet ahead of her, and didn't look back.

"Wilson, _wait_!" she called out again as she began to run as best as she could in her four inch stiletto heels.

"It's none of my business," he said as he continued to walk away, putting his hands up for emphasis.

Wilson then felt Cuddy grab his shoulder and promptly turn him around to face her.

"You _CAN'T_ tell House," Cuddy insisted, her eyes pleading with him.

Wilson's eyes almost popped out of his head.

"You're worried about _HOUSE_ finding out?!" he exclaimed.

Cuddy nervously glanced around, as a few people in the hallway with them turned their heads at Wilson's outburts.

She then grabbed his arm and pulled him into the women's bathroom.

Once the door was closed behind them, Cuddy immediately opened up all the doors of the stalls, relieved to find that the bathroom was completely empty.

Wilson just stood in the middle of the room, flabbergasted.

"Lisa, Chase is _married_! What were you thinking?!" he demanded.

"You're hardly _anyone_ to be giving me advice about this," she reminded him.

He exhaled hard, his entire body slumping.

"How did this happen?" he asked.

"It just… did. He babysat for me one night… one thing led to another…"

Wilson shook his head and began to rub his forehead in aggravation.

"He doesn't love her anymore," Cuddy told him.

"He told you that? He used those words?" Wilson asked pointedly.

"No… but he told me he's not happy in his marriage," Cuddy replied weakly.

Wilson sighed, about to tell Cuddy how ridiculous she sounded.

But the hopeful look in her eyes just couldn't let him do it.

"Does Cameron know what's going on?" he asked instead.

"No. She's been away all weekend. She has no idea," Cuddy told him.

"Is he planning on leaving her?"

At this, Cuddy hesitated. Chase had never said outright if he wanted a divorce.

"… she wants them to go for marriage counseling, but I don't think he wants to go."

Wilson continued to stare at her, still having a hard time accepting that Cuddy would actually have an affair with a married man, let alone Chase.

"This can't end well. For anyone," he warned her.

"I don't _WANT_ it to end," she said desperately.

He tsked. "Lisa…"

"He says I make him feel alive," she confessed, her entire face lighting up at the thought of Chase.

"…And he makes me feel like that, too," she added sincerely.

Wilson gazed at her, a sympathetic half- smile forming on his features.

It was obvious to him that whatever Cuddy was doing with Chase meant a lot more to her than just casual sex.

He could only hope that it meant more than that to Chase.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Wilson said, his voice full of concern.

"I have no idea what I'm doing," she admitted.

"All I know is that I haven't felt this good in a long time," she stated.

At this, Wilson's smile broadened a bit.

"Promise me you won't say anything to House," she begged.

Wilson paused for a moment before nodding.

"I promise," he told her.

* * *

Some time later in the early afternoon, House and Wilson were having lunch in a booth in the cafeteria.

"So how does it feel to be back?" Wilson asked as he shoved a forkful of salad into his mouth.

"Cuddy changed lipsticks," House replied as he chewed on his dry Reuben with no pickles.

Wilson nodded slowly, his eyes narrowing, not having any idea why House would bring that up.

"… Glad you're adjusting so well," he said vaguely.

"Before I went to Mayfield, I hallucinated that I had her lipstick all over my face the morning after we had sex," House said.

"You mean the morning after you _HALLUCINATED_ that you had sex," Wilson reminded him.

"This morning she had on a different shade," House continued.

"And of course that _MEANS_ something," Wilson said in a grandiose, sarcastic tone as he focused back on his lunch.

House gazed at Wilson thoughtfully.

"Cuddy's seeing someone," House declared.

Upon hearing this, Wilson froze, his fork poised in mid air.

"And it has to be someone in this hospital, because she wouldn't wear the new shade to work if he didn't work here," House added, eyeing Wilson's reaction very carefully.

Wilson, suddenly aware that he wasn't moving, continued to eat his lunch, avoiding House's penetrating stare, trying to look as casual as possible.

But House knew his body language all too well.

"And the fact that you're hiding yourself in your salad means I'm right," House stated.

"I didn't say you were right," Wilson muttered.

"You didn't have to. Your beets reveal all," House replied.

Wilson snorted, putting his fork down and leaning back in the booth.

"House, it's good that you're already finding a puzzle to occupy yourself while you wait for your license to be reinstated…" he began.

"…But do you really think that the best way to get back into the swing of things is to make Cuddy miserable?" he asked House.

House face contorted into a smug little smile.

"You're _protecting_ her," House said.

Wilson glanced up briefly at House with only his eyes.

"Which means I'm right," House added, a hint of self- righteousness in his voice.

* * *

At around the same time, Chase was in the doctor's lounge, eating fruit salad out of a plastic container that he had purchased in the cafeteria, watching the TV that was mounted on the wall.

He was originally going to eat in the cafeteria, but while on line, he spotted House and Wilson talking in one of the booths against the wall.

Not wanting to run into either of the two men, he quickly paid for his snack and hurried out of the cafeteria, never looking back, hoping that neither House nor Wilson had seen him.

As he popped a chunk of cantaloupe into his mouth, the door to the doctor's lounge opened and Cameron came in, wearing a set of pink scrubs. He forced a smile and chewed the cantaloupe in his mouth, making room for her on the couch.

"I found us a marriage counselor," Cameron told him as she sat down next to him, placing her knee on the couch, facing him.

Chase's eyes widened. He chewed and swallowed the piece of fruit, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"… Without checking with me first?" he said, surprised.

"We discussed this. We both agreed—" she began.

"No we didn't. I told you that I didn't want to air our dirty laundry in front of a complete stranger," he reminded her.

Cameron sighed in defeat. "Robert, I'm trying."

"…And maybe that's the problem," he said, realizing that Cameron's words had just given him an opportunity.

He put the plastic container down behind him on the couch and took both her hands in his.

"We've only been married for a few months. We should still be in a honeymoon phase. If it takes this much effort to make a brand new marriage work…" he began, taking a pause to gather strength to continue his thought.

"…Then… maybe we never should've gotten married in the first place," he finished.

Cameron looked deep into Chase's eyes, thinking about the conversation she had with her aunt Ellen while she stayed with her in Chicago:

"**I DON'T HAVE THE HEART TO TELL HIM THAT I THINK WE MADE A MISTAKE BY GETTING MARRIED,**" Cameron had said in a soft voice.

"**SO YOU'D RATHER AVOID HIM SO EVENTUALLY HE'LL SAY IT INSTEAD OF YOU**?" Ellen had asked.

"… **YEAH,**" Cameron had admitted.

"… Do you want a divorce?" Cameron asked in a small voice.

The word "_YES_" was screaming at Chase inside his head.

But he had no idea if the expression on her face meant that she wanted one or didn't want one.

"…I don't know," he replied.

"…We could try a separation…" she suggested with a tiny shrug.

Chase felt as if a weight had been lifted from his heart.

"Are you sure?" he asked her carefully, not wanting to sound too happy at the idea.

"You stay in the condo… I'll find some other place…" she told him.

"I'm not gonna kick you out. I'll get a hotel room or something," he told her, shaking his head.

"You don't have to leave right away," she said with a weak smile.

At this, he pulled her close and engulfed her in a hug, both of them letting out a deep breath.

"Maybe we just need a little space and time to think," she said over his shoulder.

"… Maybe..." he said, not wanting to reveal anything.

"I'll pack my stuff tonight," he told her.

"Ok," she said.

Just then, the door opened to the doctor's lounge.

"Oh, I'm sorry," a familiar female voice said.

Chase and Cameron, still holding each other, pulled apart and saw Cuddy standing in the doorway.

Chase felt his throat tighten.

"I… I didn't mean to interrupt anything," Cuddy stammered, looking clearly unsettled at the scene before her.

But Cameron didn't seem to notice.

"It's ok," she said with a shrug.

Cuddy quickly nodded and left the lounge, the door closing behind her.

"Wonder what that was all about," Cameron commented.

His heart pounding in his ears, Chase plastered a confused expression on his face.

"You got me," he said, lying through his teeth.

* * *

Late that night, Chase entered Cuddy's office, closing the door behind him. He had changed out of his scrubs and into a pair of faded jeans and a grey t- shirt.

Sitting at her desk, she glanced up at him briefly and then went back to her paperwork.

"Thought you would've gone home by now," she commented lightly, with a slight edge to her voice.

Undeterred by her demeanor, he crossed the room came around to her side of the desk and sat down on top of it right next to where she was sitting.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"For what?" she said nonchalantly, not looking back up at her work.

"You know for what," he replied.

"She's your wife. You don't have to apologize to me for hugging your wife," she muttered with a shrug.

"We're not going for counseling," he told her.

Cuddy looked up from her work at him, not daring to get her hopes up.

"We're gonna try a separation," he said.

"Really?" she said, her entire face lighting up.

He nodded, pulling her up from her chair and wrapping his arms low around her waist, spreading his legs a bit to pull her close to him.

"I'm gonna move out of the condo and stay in a hotel until I find a place—"

"You don't have to stay in a hotel. Stay with me," she told him.

"I can't do that," he said somberly.

Cuddy shook her head, not understanding him.

"If she finds out about us, she'll get angry and take everything I have. Right now, things are still amicable between us, and I want it to stay that way," he explained.

"But—"

"You need to trust me," he insisted, his eyes imploring.

Cuddy pursed her lips together, eventually nodding in agreement.

"Ok," she acquiesced.

Chase pulled her closer for a gentle kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, losing herself in his lips.

"I've thought about nothing but you all day," he murmured against her mouth.

"Me too," she breathed, their kiss becoming more passionate.

"And I wanna finish what we started before Wilson caught us," he added.

"Me too," she repeated, nodding vigorously.

Cuddy pulled away from Chase, and quickly ran to the front of her office, closing all the blinds so no one could see inside, which Chase took care of closing the blinds that covered the back window.

"Lock the door this time," Chase reminded her.

Cuddy laughed as she clicked the lock on her door.

"That wasn't my fault," she teased as she made her way back to the desk.

"Ok. Chase screwed up. _THIS_ time," he teased back, grabbing her once again.

They kissed passionately, moaning into each others mouths as their tongues dueled for dominance.

He removed her plum fitted jacket from her shoulders as he had earlier that day, fumbling with the buttons once again. She impatiently slapped his hand away, undoing the buttons herself, shrugging it off her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor behind her.

Chase quickly peeled off her ivory camisole over her head, his cock straining against the zipper of his jeans at the sight of her in her bra. He popped open the back of it deftly with only his thumb and index finger, practically ripping it off her.

He greedily took her breasts in his hands, clamping down on her nipple, making her toes curl, already gasping between breaths.

She thrust against the bulge in his jeans as he trailed his lips and tongue across her nipple and up to her neck.

"I've always had a fantasy about taking you on this desk," he confessed, his breath shallow.

"Show me," she said in a ragged whisper.

Without another word, he spun her around forcefully so she was facing the desk and hiked up her skirt around her hips from behind her.

As a reflex, she slapped her hands on the top of the desk with a gasp, shocked but thrilled at the same time at the position he wanted her in.

She whimpered as she felt him slip his fingers into the front of her panties, which were already damp.

"You're already wet for me?" he breathed against her ear, holding her tightly around her hip with his other hand, thrusting his erection against her ass as he pressed the front of his body against her back from behind her.

She panted, nodding, unable to speak.

He started rubbing her clit, his fingers making tight circles. Cuddy gripped onto the desk, thrusting her ass back against his erection as the intensity started to build between her legs. Sexy little cries escaped her lips as he brought her close to the brink.

Suddenly, she felt Chase knee her legs apart from behind her and his hand leave her hip.

He roughly guided himself into her from behind. She cried out as she felt his length fill her up, arching her body back against his.

Grabbing both of her hips, he thrust into her over and over again from behind. Her breasts jiggled each time he pushed into her.

She tossed her hair over her shoulders, biting her lip hard, turning her head towards him, closing her eyes at the extreme pleasure he was giving her, her nipples hardening erotically.

At the sight of his wildest fantasy finally coming to life, he exploded into her, groaning loudly as he doubled over her body, shuddering with the force of his orgasm.

Still on the edge, she pushed back against him more forcefully, getting delicious friction where she needed it most.

She squealed something unintelligible as she finally tipped over, her face flushed, her legs almost collapsing underneath her.

"… _Oh Chase_…" she moaned aloud.

And on the other side of Cuddy's office door, his vision blocked by the closed blinds, House smiled ever so slightly.

He had heard all that he needed to hear.

TBC…


	13. Chapter 12

**HI EVERYONE!**

**I'M SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY BETWEEN POSTS, BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING AND COMMENTING!**

**NOW THAT I'M WRAPPING UP ANOTHER FIC, I HOPE TO POST ON THIS ONE MORE OFTEN**

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**THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET HAIRY.**

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* * *

**CHAPTER TWELVE: Please read and comment.**

At around 10 PM that evening, Chase entered his hotel room at the Princeton Sheraton with an overnight bag slung over his shoulder.

He shut the door behind him and placed his bag on the floor as he took in his surroundings.

The room was comfortably decorated with a king size bed, a small round table with two chairs, two night tables, a dresser with a mirror, and a wall unit with a TV, an XBox game console and a mini bar underneath.

Chase headed to the bathroom and flicked on the light, making sure that it was clean and that he had enough towels for the morning.

Once he was satisfied with the bathroom, he flopped down onto the bed, pulled his cell phone out of his jeans pocket and pressed the speed dial for Cuddy's cell phone.

After three rings, Cuddy finally picked up.

"Hello?" Cuddy asked in a hassled tone.

"Hey you," Chase said affectionately. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm at the Princeton Sheraton. You should probably just stick to calling my cell phone to be safe--"

"Can I call you back?" Cuddy interrupted in aggravation.

Chase's ears perked up at the sound of Rachel crying in the background.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" he asked with concern.

"Rachel's got a fever of 102º and she's miserable," Cuddy told him.

"I'll be right there," Chase told her, getting up from the bed.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Chase knocked on Cuddy's door.

Dressed in a worn out pair of black yoga pants and a light blue t- shirt with most of her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, Cuddy padded to the door barefoot while she bobbed a bitterly crying Rachel up and down in her arms.

She opened the door to see Chase on the other side with a concerned expression.

"I gave her Tylenol forty- five minutes ago, but it takes forever to kick in. I tried to cool her down with a cloth, but she's fighting me. She doesn't want to drink anything and she's been crying non- stop," Cuddy said wearily as she backed up to let Chase into her home.

Chase shut the door behind him and took Rachel from her.

"Ok, ok," Chase said soothingly to Rachel.

Bobbing her up and down in his arms as she continued to cry, Chase brought Rachel into the kitchen with Cuddy following closely behind.

"I told you she doesn't want to drink anything," Cuddy reminded him in a futile tone.

Without saying another word, Chase turned on the faucet in the sink and let the cold water run, continuing to bob Rachel up and down in his arms.

After a few moments, Rachel's began to calm down, her bitter sobs easing off to whimpers.

Cuddy watched in amazement as Rachel finally stopped crying.

"How did you do that?!" Cuddy asked, her eyes wide.

Chase shrugged. "Running water seems to soothe colic temporarily. Figured the sound would help calm her down," he said, still focused on Rachel, taking her tiny hand in his as she curled her fist around his index finger.

Cuddy stared at them, still in shock for another moment.

She then slumped into one of the kitchen chairs in defeat, leaning her elbow on the table and placing her head in her hand.

Chase pressed his forehead to Rachel's lips.

"She doesn't feel that hot to me. Maybe her fever's going down," Chase commented.

Cuddy rubbed her forehead, not answering him.

"Any diarrhea or vomiting?" Chase asked her.

"No _DOCTOR_," she said with heavy sarcasm.

"I'm just trying to help you," Chase told her patiently.

"I know. I'm sorry," she said with a sigh as she got up from the chair and went back over to Chase and Rachel at the sink.

"Has she been tugging at her ears?" Chase asked.

"No," Cuddy replied, smoothing a few stray wisps of hair out of Rachel's face as Chase began to rock her back and forth in his arms.

"I've got Clinic tomorrow. We'll check her out in the morning," he assured her.

Cuddy nodded in reply, kissing Rachel's forehead, slightly relieved that she did feel cooler than she did before.

"She's gonna be ok," Chase assured Cuddy with a soft smile.

Cuddy smiled slightly in return, comforted by the fact that Chase was with her, brushing away a fleeting thought that Chase would make a great father.

Unaware of Cuddy's thoughts, Chase eyed Rachel's bottle of formula on the counter behind him. He picked it up and held it to Rachel's lips, but she swatted it away immediately and started to cry again.

But Chase was persistent.

"C'mon. Be a good girl. Just take a sip," Chase coaxed Rachel, attempting to give her the bottle again.

But Rachel refused.

"I told you. She doesn't want to drink," Cuddy reminded him, starting to get even more nervous that Rachel might dehydrate.

Chase pressed his lips together, thinking of options.

"Let's try something else," he suggested, giving Rachel back to Cuddy.

As Cuddy bobbed Rachel in her arms, Chase searched through Cuddy's cabinets until he found what he was looking for: A stack of plastic cups.

He took one from the stack, opened up Rachel's bottle and poured some of the formula into the cup.

"Chase, she's only ten months old. She's too young to drink from a plastic cup," Cuddy argued.

"Let's just try it," Chase said patiently.

Chase held the plastic cup of formula to Rachel's mouth and gently tipped it up, allowing a small amount of formula to wet her lips.

At first, Rachel didn't do anything, letting the liquid remain on her lips.

But after a minute, Chase tried again, and surprisingly, Rachel took a few tentative sips.

"There you go. What a good girl," Chase said sweetly to Rachel.

"Oh thank god," Cuddy declared in great relief.

Chase smiled.

"I think you'll be able to wean her off the bottle sooner than you think," he commented as he gave Rachel another sip.

* * *

Over a half- hour later, Rachel was fast asleep between Chase and Cuddy in Cuddy's bed, her long eyelashes barely grazing her cheeks. She had drank four ounces of formula with Chase's persistence, giving her a few sips at a time.

Both Chase and Cuddy were leaning on their elbows in the bed, facing Rachel. Cuddy placed her hand over the bottom of Rachel's diaper.

"It's wet," she said softly, exhaling in relief again with a smile.

"And it looks like the Tylenol kicked in," Chase said, matching her soft tone, looking down at Rachel with an affectionate smile.

Cudyd looked up at him. "Thank you," she said gratefully.

Still smiling, Chase leaned slightly over Rachel while she slept and gave Cuddy a soft kiss.

"You're so good with her," Cuddy murmured against his lips.

"She's a sweetheart," Chase replied.

"No, you were a lot more patient than I was," Cuddy said in self- deprecation.

"That's because I'm not her mother," Chase pointed out.

Cuddy laughed quietly and nodded in agreement.

They gazed at each other, both propped up on their elbows, facing each other.

"You don't have to stay. If you have to go back to the hotel, I understand," she told him.

"You're kicking me out of bed again?" he joked with a lopsided smile.

"You said we have to be careful," she reminded him.

"I'm not leaving you," he told her gently, but firmly.

"_OR_ her," he added, nodding at Rachel.

She smiled warmly and leaned forward to kiss him again. Their eyes fluttered closed as he brushed his lips with hers over and over again.

"So how's your hotel room?" she asked as they kissed.

"Lonely," he replied softly.

"Did you eat dinner?" she asked.

Chase smiled against her mouth, loving that she cared enough about him to ask that question.

"Yeah, I ate in the hospital," he reassured her.

Rachel made a soft little noise in her sleep and shifted her position slightly, causing Chase and Cuddy to break off their kiss.

They watched her both with baited breath, hoping she wouldn't wake up.

When she didn't, continuing to sleep peacefully, both of them relaxed again, leaning back down on the bed.

Still looking down at Rachel, part of Cuddy wanted to ask Chase if Cameron suspected anything.

But most of her didn't want to hear the answer.

"You're beautiful," Chase said to Cuddy out of nowhere.

Cuddy laughed as if the notion was ridiculous.

"No I'm not. I look terrible," she told him.

"Why do women always do that?" Chase asked.

"…I have no idea," Cuddy admitted.

Chase chuckled, brushing a stray curl away from Cuddy's face and tucking it behind her ear.

"You really think I'm beautiful?" she asked shyly, getting lost in his eyes.

"Yes," he whispered.

Cuddy felt a thrilling, yet warm tingle surge through her at the way he was looking at her.

"You know, a few years ago, you used to have quite a rep around the hospital for being a playboy," she teased.

"Maybe I've grown up since then," he said softly, his smoldering eyes tracing over her.

She willed herself to calm down, feeling her breath catch in her throat. She licked her lips and swallowed nervously, her stomach twisting inside her about what she was about to ask him.

"Do you realize that I'm almost ten years older than you?" she asked him.

He furrowed his brow. "So what?"

"That doesn't bother you?" she asked meekly.

"Obviously not."

Since they had gotten together, their age difference would nag her every once in a while. She often wondered if Chase ever thought about it.

But at the same time, it excited her tremendously that a man as gorgeous and as young as Chase would desire her so much.

"So I'm sure Wilson had a lot to say after he caught us in the supply closet," Chase commented.

"Not really," Cuddy replied with a off-handed shrug.

Chase raised his eyebrows a bit, waiting for her to expand her answer. She drew in a breath before continuing.

"I told him… that you make me feel alive," she said.

Chase smiled, his heart swelling, remembering that he had told her the same thing not too long ago.

"… and that I haven't felt this good in a really long time," she added.

"Neither have I," he told her sincerely.

He kissed her again, slowly and tenderly. She felt as if his lips were searching the deepest part of her.

"You think he told House about us?" Chase asked her, exploring her lips with his own.

"He promised he wouldn't," she breathed.

Chase didn't put too much stock in a promise from Wilson, but he didn't want to make Cuddy more anxious than she already was.

So instead of commenting, he continued to kiss Cuddy, his tongue delicately caressing hers while Rachel slept in between them.

* * *

The next day around 10 AM, Cuddy was sitting on an exam table in Exam Room 2 in the Clinic, holding Rachel securely in her lap while Chase gave her a thorough exam.

Having not returned to his hotel room the night before, he decided to get to the hospital very early that morning to shower and change into a set a scrubs so no one would be suspicious.

Chase tsked as soon as he looked into Rachel's mouth and down her throat with a tongue depressor and a ocular flashlight.

"Looks like strep," he stated.

Cuddy turned Rachel around and managed to get a glimpse inside Rachel's throat as best she could. She tsked as well when she saw that Rachel's throat was red, inflamed and that there were white patches in her mouth.

"Great," Cuddy muttered.

"We'll take a culture to confirm," Chase told her.

"Daycare _sucks_," she declared.

Chase laughed a bit as he turned back to the counter and looked through Rachel's chart.

"Rachel's allergic to Penicillin?" Chase asked her curiously.

"She got a mild rash the last time she was on it," Cuddy replied.

"I'll put her on Keflex if she comes up positive," Chase assured her.

Cuddy nodded in appreciation as Chase wrote "_Rachel Cuddy_" on a white label and affixed it to a small plastic vial.

He then removed a sterile long cotton swab from its paper packaging and approached Cuddy and Rachel again, knowing that what he was about to do wasn't going to be easy.

"You got her?" Chase asked her.

"Yep," Cuddy replied, holding Rachel firmly on her lap.

Chase then expertly squeezed Rachel's cheeks together, causing her to open her mouth. He then quickly swabbed the inside of her mouth, making her gag as a reflex.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" he said soothingly as he placed the swab in the labeled plastic vial.

Cuddy rubbed Rachel's back lovingly as she recovered from the strep culture.

"She was awesome. I was so bad at that when I was a kid," Cuddy commented.

Chase shrugged, a mischievous smile forming on his face.

"I dunno… your gag reflex didn't seem that sensitive the other night…" he quipped coyly.

Cuddy's jaw dropped, fighting a grin as a blush formed on her cheeks, remembering how she had gone down on Chase the other night while they were waiting for their dinner to be delivered.

"We should try that again sometime," Cuddy suggested.

"Soon," Chase nodded eagerly in agreement, his eyes sparkling.

Completely wrapped up in each other, they both almost jumped out of their skin when the door to the exam room suddenly opened.

Seeing Foreman standing in the doorway, Chase stepped back at least two feet from Cuddy, looking like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.

"…Am I interrupting anything?" Foreman asked, his eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"Of course not," Cuddy said calmly.

Foreman, still suspicious, turned his attention to Chase.

"You got a minute?" he asked Chase.

"… Sure," Chase replied tentatively.

"I'll… give this to the nurse. We should have the results in ten minutes," Chase told Cuddy, trying to sound as professional as possible.

Cuddy nodded, exchanging a somewhat knowing glance with Foreman before Chase left the exam room, Foreman closing the door behind him, leaving Cuddy in the room alone with Rachel.

* * *

Back at the charge nurse's station, Chase handed Rachel Cuddy's strep culture to nurse Jeffrey, the newest addition to Princeton Plainsboro's nursing staff.

"Need a Rapid Strep," Chase ordered.

"Yes doctor," Jeffrey said, taking the vial from Chase.

"What's up?" Chase said, turning to Foreman.

"Cuddy put me in charge of House's team last week," Foreman told him.

"… Congratulations," he said flatly.

"I screwed up the case… Taub left… and… I fired Thirteen," Foreman admitted.

Chase blinked twice.

"You fired your _GIRLFRIEND_?!" Chase asked, genuinely surprised.

"I could really use you," Foreman said, ignoring Chase's reaction.

Chase couldn't help but laugh.

"You want _ME_ to work for you?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"You're competent and you worked for House for three years. I know I can trust you," Foreman said simply.

But Chase wasn't biting.

"Did you ask Cameron to work for you, too?" Chase asked.

"Yes… and she asked me the same thing about you," Foreman said with sigh.

"I'm assuming she told you we're separated," Chase said.

Foreman nodded. "She said that she wouldn't have a problem working with you."

"_OF COURSE SHE DID_," Chase muttered to himself.

"Do you think you can work with her?" Foreman asked.

Just then, Cuddy came out of the exam room with Rachel in her arms.

"Did you ask him?" Cuddy asked Foreman.

At this, Chase's eyebrows shot up to his head.

"This was _YOUR_ idea?!" he exclaimed to Cuddy.

Nurse Jeffrey pressed his lips together, suppressing a huge laugh that was threatening to escape, enjoying this way too much to mind his own business.

Chase looked back and forth between Foreman and Cuddy, putting the pieces together in his mind.

"You want _ME_… to work with _HOUSE_ and _CAMERON_," Chase clarified to Cuddy, hoping his subtle leading tone would make her understand that putting the three of them in the same room for an extended period of time could only end badly.

"Foreman can't run the department by himself," Cuddy told Chase.

Chase stared at her as if she was insane.

Cuddy raised her brows ever so slightly, willing Chase to stop being so damned obvious.

"… I need to think about this," he finally said.

"Let me know when the results for Rachel's Cuddy strep test come in," Chase told Nurse Jeffrey before he left the Clinic.

Still stifling a laugh, Jeffrey nodded.

TBC…


	14. Chapter 13

**HI EVERYONE!**

**THANKS FOR READING, FOR ALL YOUR WONDERFUL POSTS AND FOR BEING SO PATIENT!**

**HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :D **

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**CHAPTER 13: Please read and comment.**

"You want _ME_… to work with _HOUSE_ and _CAMERON_," Chase clarified to Cuddy, hoping his subtle leading tone would make her understand that putting the three of them in the same room for an extended period of time could only end badly.

"Foreman can't run the department by himself," Cuddy told Chase.

Chase stared at her as if she was insane.

Cuddy raised her brows ever so slightly, willing Chase to stop being so damned obvious.

"… I need to think about this," he finally said.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Chase opened the door to Cuddy's office, where she was sitting on the couch, rocking Rachel in her stroller in an attempt to get her to take a nap.

"Strep culture came back positive," Chase said, his voice completely devoid of any emotion as he entered the office.

Cuddy nodded.

"Thank you," she said in an overly professional tone.

Chase kept his gaze on her waiting for her to say something, anything about what had transpired between them in the Clinic that morning.

But when he saw that she wasn't going to budge an inch, he merely took his prescription pad and a pen out of the pockets of his lab coat and scribbled quickly on the top sheet.

"Here's a script for Keflex. You can fill it at the pharmacy," he said, as he basically tossed the paper at her before turning around to leave.

She tsked and rolled her eyes as she got up from the couch.

"Chase, wait," she told him.

Chase turned back to face her, his jaw hardened with anger.

"_What_?" he stated impatiently.

"I didn't have a choice," she told him.

Chase laughed in disgust and shook his head.

"_Really_."

"Foreman screwed up the last case. House practically _BEGGED_ me to hire him back. Without him, there _IS_ no Department of Diagnostics—"

"When were you gonna tell me?!" he exclaimed.

"This just happened this morning. I didn't have _TIME_ to tell you," she told him, slumping her shoulders wearily.

"We were in the Clinic together! You couldn't tell me then?!" he demanded.

"While you were examining my daughter? I don't think so," she retorted with a curt laugh.

Another laugh escaped his lips, but this time, it was merely a soft breath.

"If I don't help House get his medical license back, then I'll have to shut down the Department, and then this hospital is out a ton of money," she explained to him as if she was talking to a child.

"Yes, we all know how he's your most precious resource," Chase drawled with thick sarcasm.

"You and Cameron are the only doctors who can stand working with House," she continued, ignoring his dig.

"The whole point is for Cameron and House _NOT_ to find out about us! You even said that House'll be able to tell that we're having an affair just by the color tie I wear to work!" he argued.

"I though you weren't going to wear a tie," she snarked.

Chase stared at her for a moment longer.

He then snorted in disgust and turned around to leave again.

But before he could, she strode a few steps towards him and pulled his arm, causing him to face her once more.

"What do you want me to do? Choose you over House? I can't run this hospital around our relationship!" she yelled, completely forgetting about the fact that Rachel was trying to fall asleep in her stroller.

"_We're FUCKING. We don't HAVE a relationship_," he stated coldly, his eyes like ice.

Cuddy flinched, her face stricken as if Chase had just slapped her.

Chase inhaled through his nose, refusing to soften.

"Make sure Rachel finishes all the medication," he muttered before shaking his arm out of her grasp and finally leaving her office, never looking back as Cuddy's cheeks burned with humiliation.

* * *

A short time later, Chase returned to House's office.

Foreman was sitting at the head of the table, impeccably dressed in a light grey Hugo Boss suit, complete with a crisp white shirt and purple tie as he read from their newest patient's chart, listing the various and vague litany of symptoms.

House was sitting across from Chase, next to Foreman, saying nothing.

He just kept a quiet, calm gaze on Chase.

But Chase didn't even realize it.

Chase was staring at the copy of the patient's file in front of him, but it may as well have been blank, because he wasn't even concentrating on it, while Foreman's voice droned on in the background.

His mind was back in Cuddy's office, replaying what had just happened between them.

And although he seemed calm on the surface, he was still angry.

He was angry at Cuddy for assigning him to House, especially since she had been the one who was so worried that if he found out about their affair, he make both their lives miserable.

But he was mostly angry at himself for lashing out at Cuddy so venonously.

He didn't mean a word of what he had said to her, but in the heat of the moment, he just couldn't help himself.

And as usual, it was because of House.

Chase knew he was being partially selfish. Cuddy was right when he said that she couldn't make professional decisions based on their personal lives.

But he just couldn't shake off the fact that Cuddy was putting House before him.

Because that's exactly what Cameron had done so many times.

Part of Chase just wanted to stand up, walk around to the other side of the conference table and punch House in the face.

He smiled to himself, thinking of how shocked both Foreman and Cameron would be if he just stood up and decked him out of nowhere, laying him flat out on his old, bloody carpet that he had refused to replace after getting shot three years ago.

While Chase was lost in his own thoughts, Cameron kept glancing at him, noticing how aggravated he looked.

"_Chase_!" Foreman suddenly said, snapping Chase out of his reverie as Cameron got up from the table.

"Hmm?" Chase said absentmindedly as he turned to Foreman.

"Did you hear what I just said? Go run an ANA test," Foreman ordered him.

Chase blinked, surprised that they were actually considering lupus as a diagnosis.

"I know what you're thinking," House suddenly said to Chase.

Chase snapped his head around, his eyes widened in panic that House might just have the ability to read his private thoughts.

House kept an almost knowing gaze on him, pausing for a moment.

"…It's never lupus," House finally said.

Chase let out a tiny, somewhat nervous laugh as he quickly got up from the table and left the conference room.

House watched him carefully, saying nothing.

As Chase breathed a sigh of relief, Cameron, who had been waiting for him just outside the double glass doors, gave him a concerned look.

"Are you ok?" Cameron asked him.

"I'm fine," he mumbled and walked away from her.

* * *

A few moments later, Cuddy was working at her computer when Cameron entered her office.

"Do you have a minute?" Cameron said in a hushed tone, mindful that Rachel was fast asleep in her stroller next to Cuddy's desk.

Cuddy looked up at Cameron, a wave of panic surging through her at the sight of Cameron.

However, she kept a calm, professional façade, reminding herself that she was the boss and Cameron was her employee and that she hadn't been sleeping with her employee's husband behind her back.

"Sure, what's up?" Cuddy said, hoping she sounded as calm as she looked.

Cameron exhaled and sat down at one of the empty chairs in front of Cuddy's desk.

"I'm worried about Chase," she confessed.

"_FUCK_," Cuddy thought to herself, her panic growing inside her.

"…Why are you worried about Chase?" Cuddy asked.

"I know you asked him to help out Foreman with Diagnostics… but we're going through a separation and I don't think he's in the right frame of mind to handle House right now," Cameron confessed to her.

Cuddy arched her eyebrow slightly.

"And… you _ARE_ in the right frame of mind to handle House right now?" she asked, playing dumb.

"I just think I'm dealing with this better than he is," Cameron explained.

Cuddy nodded slowly, not knowing what to make of that.

"Maybe it would be better if Chase went back to surgery for a while," Cameron suggested.

Cuddy kept a placid gaze on Cameron, not sure if her motives were out of true concern for Chase or if she had a hidden ulterior motive.

But above all that, she knew that if she took Cameron's suggestion, House would immediately figure out what was going on between her and Chase.

"I'm not reassigning Chase," Cuddy stated quietly, yet firmly.

Cameron could only nod before she got up from the chair and left Cuddy's office.

* * *

Sometime later, Wilson was at his desk in his office, writing prescriptions for his patients when House entered without knocking.

"Cuddy's doing Chase," House announced.

Wilson immediately looked up from his prescriptions with his best shocked look plastered on his face.

"She _IS_?!?!" Wilson exclaimed.

"And you knew about it," House added, not falling for Wilson's ruse for a second.

Wilson's face fell as he exhaled, his entire body slumping as he leaned back on his chair in defeat.

House smiled ever so slightly.

"…She told me not to tell you," Wilson mumbled.

"Of course she did," House replied.

"So what are you gonna do to make both their lives a living hell?" Wilson asked in a resigned tone.

House tilted his head with a contemplative look in his eyes.

"Don't know yet," he said.

* * *

Later that night, Cuddy shut off the light in Rachel's room, leaving the door open halfway before leaving.

Rachel was fast asleep in her crib. Around forty- five minutes ago, Cuddy had given her the fourth required dose of Keflex that Chase had prescribed for her before giving her a bath and putting her down for the night.

Cuddy was relieved that Rachel's fever was significantly down and that she seemed to be feeling a little better after just a few doses of antibiotic.

But between work, taking care of Rachel and dealing with Chase's wrath, she was exhausted.

Every time she thought of Chase, her heart ached tremendously.

She knew that he had been incredibly angry when she had assigned him to House's team without asking him how he felt about it.

But she never expected him to say what he had said to her.

"_WE'RE FUCKING. WE DON'T HAVE A RELATIONSHIP_," she heard Chase's voice echo in her mind, feeling another stab in her heart.

She went into the kitchen to make herself a cup of Chamomile tea before bed when she heard a soft knock at her front door.

She trudged to the door, a numbness taking over her.

But a wave of hope surged through her upon opening the door, seeing Chase standing on her front step, sad and forlorn.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

She smiled at him sadly, taking his hand and pulling him into the house.

He immediately pulled her close to him in a tight embrace, burying his face in her hair. She nuzzled against his chest, wrapping her arms around him, losing herself in his scent, feeling as if a giant weight had just been lifted from her.

They held each other for a few moments, not saying a word, just reveling in the feeling of their bodies pressed together as they held each other.

"You were only doing your job. I shouldn't have taken it personally," he apologized.

"How could you not take it personally? I put you in a really awkward position," she admitted regretfully.

"But if you had reassigned me back to surgery after you put me back on House's team, then it would've looked suspicious," Chase said.

At this, Cuddy looked up at him with a tiny, knowing smile.

"Cameron told you she came to me?" she surmised.

"Yeah," he replied sheepishly.

He then bent down and gave her a gentle kiss.

"How's Rachel?" he murmured against her lips.

"Sleeping. She's doing better already," she replied, feeling Chase's soft, full lips blissfully sweep her away.

"Can I make this up to you?" Cuddy asked.

"Yeah," he said softly.

* * *

A short time later, Chase wore a lazy smile on his face.

He and Cuddy were in her large Jacuzzi bath together, naked and submerged under a layer of bubbles.

Cuddy was sitting behind Chase, his back pressed up against her chest, her legs were wrapped around his waist from behind as she decadently washed his bare chest with a white gauze bath sponge. The steam from the bath rose up around them, creating a delightful haze.

"I should insult you more often," Chase murmured happily.

"Don't push your luck," she quipped, placing a kiss on his temple as she continued to wash him.

Chase chuckled, squeezing the outside of her supple thigh underneath the water.

"…Cameron really cares about you," Cuddy mentioned.

"Cameron really cares about _EVERYONE_," Chase muttered.

He then exhaled deeply.

"… which was part of the problem," he added.

Cuddy placed the sponge on the edge of the tub and wrapped her arms around him, caressing his chest, feeling a twinge of guilt for caring about House's needs over his.

He looked up at her and kissed her apologetically.

"I didn't mean it when I said we didn't have a relationship," he said sincerely.

She smiled softly.

"I know," she told him.

"I was just angry—"

"It's ok," she reassured him.

They kissed again, his tongue lightly dancing with hers. He then sat up and shifted positions with her in the bath, the water sloshing around as he leaned up against the wall of the tub, pulling her in front of him. She lay back against his chest, sighing happily as he caressed her bare breasts, her skin tingling from the bubbly water.

They enjoyed a comfortable silence. She caressed the outside of his thighs while he continued to wash her breasts, pressing his cheek against hers, an idea forming in his mind.

"When's the last time you went out on a date?" he asked, breaking the silence.

She arched her eyebrow, the images of her rather short evening with 'Eastern Lube Guy' and the time that Wilson took her to a rather pornographic exhibition at an art gallery.

She then decided that her night with Wilson didn't count.

"Three years ago," she replied, still facing away from Chase.

"What do you say I take you on a date this weekend?" he suggested.

At this, she turned around in the tub to face him, incredulous.

"And how do you propose we do that?" she asked.

"You call a babysitter for Rachel—" he began.

"How are we going to go on a date without anyone recognizing us?" she interrupted him, speaking slowly as if he was insane.

"We went to that park and nobody recognized us," Chase pointed out with a shrug.

She stared at him blankly.

"We're in a relationship, right? People in relationships go out on dates," Chase stated, a smile tugging at his lips.

Cuddy laughed slightly.

"I think it's sweet that you want to do this. But I don't think it's a good idea," she told him.

"We'll go far enough away from campus. No one will know," he told her, completely undaunted by her obvious concerns.

She looked deeply into his eyes, her brain and her heart pulling her in two opposite directions.

"… All right," she acquiesced.

TBC…


	15. Chapter 14

**HI EVERYONE!**

**I KNOW IT'S LATE, BUT I WANTED TO GET THIS NEW CHAPTER UP BY TONIGHT.**

**SO HERE IT IS!**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR COMMENTS! I WILL RESPOND TO THEM VERY SOON!!**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :D **

* * *

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Please read and comment.**

"What do you say I take you on a date this weekend?" Chase suggested.

At this, Cuddy turned around in the tub to face him, incredulous.

"And how do you propose we do that?" she asked.

"You call a babysitter for Rachel—" he began.

"How are we going to go on a date without anyone recognizing us?" she interrupted him, speaking slowly as if he was insane.

"We went to that park and nobody recognized us," Chase pointed out with a shrug.

She stared at him blankly.

"We're in a relationship, right? People in relationships go out on dates," Chase stated, a smile tugging at his lips.

Cuddy laughed slightly.

"I think it's sweet that you want to do this. But I don't think it's a good idea," she told him.

"We'll go far enough away from campus. No one will know," he told her, completely undaunted by her obvious concerns.

She looked deeply into his eyes, her brain and her heart pulling her in two opposite directions.

"… All right," she acquiesced.

* * *

**THREE WEEKS LATER.**

"This is crazy," Cuddy muttered to herself.

It was almost 8 pm on Saturday night, and Cuddy was applying the last bit of mascara to her left eye.

She was expecting Chase to pick her up for their first date any minute.

For the last three weeks, Chase had been coming over after work every night. Since he had been working for House, Chase's hours had been unpredictable. Most of the time, Rachel would already be asleep by the time he arrived.

But as soon as he did, they would head for the bedroom, set her alarm clock for 3:30 am and make passionate love until they fell asleep in each other's arms.

And at 3:30 am, her alarm would go off, Chase would get up, get dressed, leave her place and go back to the hotel he had been staying at for the last two weeks since he and Cameron had separated and he had moved out of the condo.

At first, she tried to convince him to sleep a little later and stay for breakfast, but he immediately told her that it would be a bad idea. If one of her neighbors saw him coming out of her house as they were leaving for work, their affair would be all over Princeton.

It was bad enough that Wilson knew about them, and god knows how long he'd be able to keep it a secret.

Of course, neither Cuddy nor Chase knew that House had figured out their secret just by looking at Wilson's face.

She scrutinized herself in her full- length mirror. She was wearing a pair of dark skinny jeans that hugged her curves, stiletto peep toe heels that showed off a deep red pedicure that she had treated herself to that morning and elongated her legs, and a red knot- front babydoll sleeveless bra top that showed off her ample cleavage and elegantly draped over her hips.

And while she was satisfied with what she saw, she couldn't help but wonder what the hell Chase was doing with a woman who was almost ten years older than he was.

She looked closer at her reflection and saw the dark circles under her eyes that become more prominent in the last three weeks from waking up every night at 3:30 in the morning and from having a hard time getting back to sleep once he left.

She dabbed a touch more concealer under her eyes and blended it into her skin.

She then left her bedroom and headed into the master bathroom, where her newest babysitter, Claudia, a perky redhead in her twenties, was drying Rachel with a white fluffy bath towel after just finishing giving her a bath.

"Ma!" Rachel said, raising up her arms to Cuddy with a huge grin on her face upon seeing her mother.

Cuddy smiled happily and bent down to take Rachel from Claudia, giving her a kiss.

"Did you have a good bath?" Cuddy asked Rachel.

"We had a great time," Claudia said with a smile as she gently dried Rachel's hair with the towel. "We played with our duckies."

Cuddy grinned, nuzzling her nose with Rachel, making her giggle.

"Isn't your date coming to pick you up in a few minutes, Dr. Cuddy?" Claudia asked.

She glanced at Claudia and nodded tersely. Cuddy had conveniently forgot to mention Chase's name to the babysitter, even thought she knew that Claudia had no connection to anyone at the hospital in any way.

But she still didn't want to take any chances of anyone finding out about them.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Cuddy immediately felt panic rise inside her.

"…Shouldn't you get the door, Dr. Cuddy?" Claudia asked after a moment.

She nodded again, gave Rachel back to Claudia and left the bathroom.

She smoothed out her top and ran her fingers through her wavy hair as she headed for the door, trying to get her nerves under control.

But when she answered the door, her anxiety disappeared and was replaced with entirely new emotions.

Like wanting to rip Chase's clothes off at the sight of him.

Chase was standing on her doorstep, wearing slightly faded jeans, an off- white button down linen shirt with two parallel embroidered stripes running down the front. The top button of his shirt was undone and the sleeves were rolled up. A pair of black shoes completed his look.

His hair was sexily tousled, a few blond locks framing his face, which was sporting a thin layer of scruff.

He was beautiful.

"… Hi," she finally managed to say, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat.

"Hi," he replied with a soft smile that threatened to turn her to jelly.

Cuddy darted a glance past him, making sure that none of her neighbors were around and led him inside.

Once he had closed the door behind him, he pulled her closer and brushed her lips with a tender, searching kiss that made her knees go weak underneath her.

"You're _gorgeous_," he breathed huskily against her mouth, his heart thumping in his chest as he tightened his arms around her.

"So are you," she whispered.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

She reluctantly broke off their kiss, her anxiety returning when she realized that they were actually going to go out in public.

"… I'll just tell the babysitter that we're leaving," she said.

Chase followed her into the living room.

"Claudia! My date's here!" Cuddy called out, grabbing her clutch purse off the coffee table.

Claudia came out of Rachel's bedroom with Rachel in her arms, dressed in her pajamas.

Chase smiled in a friendly manner at Claudia, who smiled back shyly, a blush forming on her cheeks, clearly not expecting Cuddy's date to be a young, incredibly handsome blonde.

Upon seeing Claudia's expression, Cuddy quickly ushered her back into the kitchen.

"Here's my cell number and all the emergency numbers," Cuddy said, handing her the sheet of paper she had prepared for her earlier that evening. "We're going to Fusion for drinks and dinner. Make sure that Rachel is in bed by 8:30," she instructed.

Claudia took the list absentmindedly, her thoughts still lingering on Chase.

"He's so hot! How did you meet him?" Claudia gushed.

"Through a mutual friend," Cuddy lied dismissively.

"Does your mutual friend have any other friends that look like that?" Claudia asked eagerly.

Cuddy couldn't help but laugh. Inside, she was flattered, of course, that Chase was so attracted to her.

And in bed, he couldn't get enough of her.

"Well I think it's great. Most young guys usually won't even look at older women," Claudia commented.

Cuddy arched her eyebrow at Claudia, her expression demanding an explanation for her comment.

"Not that you're old, Dr. Cuddy," Claudia added quickly, immediately regretting what she had said. "It's just—"

"I'm pretty sure I get it," Cuddy said, saving her from digging the hole she had just created for herself any deeper.

Claudia's face turned a deep shade of red as Cuddy kissed Rachel.

"Be a good girl for Claudia," Cuddy said sweetly to her daughter, giving her a squeeze.

"Say bye- bye to mommy," Claudia said to Rachel, still completely embarrassed.

"Bah!" Rachel replied.

Cuddy gave Rachel one more kiss before leaving the kitchen and returning to the living room where Chase was waiting for her.

"Remind me to fire Claudia when we get home," Cuddy murmured to Chase as they headed for the front door.

* * *

Around a half- hour later, Chase and Cuddy were sitting at a table at Fusion, a French- Thai place outside of Princeton, waiting for their drinks.

Cuddy glanced around the trendy restaurant, which was completely packed with young couples and singles in their late twenties and early thirties. Most of the singles were gathered around the bar area, which was bustling with activity—eager young guys trying to pick up young ladies who were wearing as little clothing as legally possible.

Cuddy was pretty sure that no one in the restaurant would recognize them. But she still felt uncomfortable, almost positive that she was the oldest person in the place.

Chase touched her hand across the table.

"You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, plastering a smile on her face.

Chase arched an eyebrow in disbelief.

"You don't look fine."

She exhaled and tried to relax. He squeezed her hand in his.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Besides the fact that I'm robbing the cradle and have the sudden urge to tell every girl in this place to put some clothes on?" she quipped.

He grinned, taking more than a glance at her prominently displayed cleavage, licking his lips. She rolled her eyes at him.

"At least you can't see my midriff or my thong," she told him, fighting a grin.

He leaned across the tiny table. "Are you wearing a thong?" he asked eagerly.

She leaned closer to him, her soft blue- grey eyes dancing.

"If you're lucky, you'll find out later," she replied sexily.

He tsked and leaned back in his chair, still holding her hand.

"Does our age difference really bother you that much?" he asked.

She exhaled. "It didn't at first… but now that we're actually going on dates…"

"I think it's sexy that you're older than me," he said with a shrug.

She narrowed her eyes. "Really."

"Really," he assured her, locking eyes with her.

She felt an intense tingle between her legs at how he was gazing at her, wanting nothing more than to plunge her tongue down his throat right there at the table.

"Why are you concerned about what other people think?" he asked.

She laughed. "And you're not?"

He shrugged. "Not really," he said, a bit too casually.

"Well then either you're lying or you're completely full of yourself," she said.

"Why wouldn't I be confident? A successful, powerful and incredibly sexy and beautiful woman has the hots for me," he grinned.

"'_The hots?_'" she repeated, laughing again.

He nodded, stroking her hand with his thumb, his eyes blazing with passion for her, his cock straining against the confines of his jeans.

"Yeah," he said.

The tingle between her legs became more intense and began to spread through the rest of her body.

"…Where do you see this going between us?" she asked as casually as she could.

"Kind of a heavy question for a first date," he quipped.

"Yeah, well I've never really been good at first dates," she volleyed.

"Good thing we got the sex out of the way already, eh?" he asked, not missing a beat, causing her to laugh again.

He gazed into her eyes, collecting his thoughts.

"Honestly… I… haven't thought that far ahead. I just know that I love being with you," he confessed.

She nodded, smiling at him softly, squashing the disappointment that was rising within her.

Just then, a bleached blond waitress with ample breasts waitress brought over their drinks—a pomegranate martini for Cuddy and an imported beer for Chase. She gave Chase a lingering once over as she placed the drinks on the table, ignoring Cuddy completely.

"My name's Tami. If you need anything else… let me know," Tami said suggestively.

Chase smiled politely at Tami, turning his attention back to Cuddy, who smirked as she brought her martini up to her lips.

"…Have _YOU_ thought about where this is going between us?" Chase asked.

She shrugged. "Don't you think that's natural?"

"Well, yeah… but…" Chase said, trailing off.

Cuddy gazed at him, waiting for him to expand his answer. He took a sip of his beer, placed it back on the table and took both her hands in his.

"I know this sounds awful… but Cameron and I just got separated. I'm still living in the hotel. Most of my stuff is still in the condo—" he began.

"I'm sorry. You're right. I shouldn't be putting any undue pressure on you," she quickly interrupted him, regretting that she had ever broached the subject.

"You're not pressuring me," he assured her.

He took another pause, hoping that what he was about to say wasn't about to break her heart.

"I just… don't want to make you a promise that I might not be able to keep," he said as gently as he could.

Upon hearing his words, a painful sensation radiated through Cuddy's chest.

Based on how passionate things had become between them, she had never expected him to back off once she brought up their possible future.

But instead of showing or telling him how she felt, she merely nodded and took another sip of her drink.

* * *

While Chase and Cuddy were having dinner, Cameron was back in the condo, reading a book and having a glass of merlot when there was a rhythmic knocking at her door.

She put down her glass and headed for the door, the knocking continuing.

She didn't have to look through the peephole to know who was on the other side.

"What are you doing here?" Cameron asked once she opened the door.

House shrugged as he stood in her doorway, leaning on his cane.

"I was in the neighborhood," he replied.

"You don't have any reason to _BE_ in this neighborhood at this time of night," she pointed out.

"Just wanted to see what you blond lovebirds were up to on a Saturday night," he commented.

"You know that Chase and I are separated," she stated.

At this, House raised his eyebrows ever so slightly.

"… which is why you're here," Cameron added in a defeatist tone as she let him into the condo.

House surveyed his surroundings as he walked into the living room. The décor was clearly Cameron's influence. Peach and earth tones that were accented by flowers.

"I'm assuming Chase took his rugby posters when he moved out," House quipped.

"What do you want?" Cameron asked flatly.

House ignored her piercing stare and sat down on the couch.

"So whose decision was the separation?" he probed.

"It was mutual," she replied, folding her arms across her chest.

"It's _NEVER_ mutual," he stated flatly, his blue eyes shimmering.

She sighed heavily, her entire body slumping as she sat down on the couch, knowing that House wasn't going to leave her alone until she answered his questions.

"It was my idea," she mumbled.

"You don't love him anymore," House clarified.

"I love him… It's just—"

"Things lousy in the bedroom?" he asked with a nod.

"That's none of your business," Cameron told him.

"Which means '_yes, things were lousy in the bedroom_,'" House said.

Cameron lolled her head back against the couch and closed her eyes, wishing House would just disappear.

"So where is Chase staying?" House continued.

"In a hotel," she replied, her eyes still closed.

"Are you getting a divorce?" he asked.

"I don't know yet," she said, the irritation in her voice seeping through.

House nodded and shifted his position on the couch to face her a bit more.

"What would you do if he was having an affair?" he asked.

At this, Cameron opened her eyes and turned towards House.

"He's _NOT_ having an affair," Cameron stated confidently.

"I'm not saying he _IS_ having an affair. I'm asking what you would do if he _WAS_," House repeated, his facial expression completely stoic, revealing nothing that he knew.

Cameron paused for a moment, mulling it over in her mind.

"I would divorce him," she finally answered.

"_THAT'S IT_?" House asked, clearly disappointed.

"What else is there?" she asked in confusion.

"You wouldn't take him for all he's worth? Alimony? Garnish his wages? Get into a cat fight with the slut he's sleeping with?" House demanded.

Cameron blinked twice.

"No," she replied calmly.

House laughed a little.

"You're an _idiot_," he told her as he got up from the couch.

"Why?" she demanded, following him as he limped to the door. "What are you not telling me?"

House turned around to face her. She was a mere inch from him.

Their eyes locked on each other for a moment.

Cameron felt her heart beat just a tad quicker in her chest.

House shrugged.

"Nothing," he said before he let himself out.

TBC…


	16. Chapter 15

**HI EVERYONE!**

**THERE'S NOT MUCH MORE LEFT OF THIS FIC. I WOULD SAY LESS THAN TEN CHAPTERS.**

**I HOPE YOU ALL DECIDE TO STICK AROUND UNTIL THE END.**

**IN THE MEANTIME, HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :D **

* * *

**CHAPTER 15: Please read and comment.**

"What would you do if Chase was having an affair?" House asked.

"He's _NOT_ having an affair," Cameron stated confidently.

"I'm not saying he _IS_ having an affair. I'm asking what you would do if he _WAS_," House repeated, his facial expression completely stoic, revealing nothing that he knew.

Cameron paused for a moment, mulling it over in her mind.

"I would divorce him," she finally answered.

"_THAT'S IT_?" House asked, clearly disappointed.

"What else is there?" she asked in confusion.

"You wouldn't take him for all he's worth? Alimony? Garnish his wages? Get into a cat fight with the slut he's sleeping with?" House demanded.

Cameron blinked twice.

"No," she replied calmly.

House laughed a little.

"You're an _idiot_," he told her as he got up from the couch.

"Why? What are you not telling me?" she demanded, following him as he limped to the door.

House turned around to face her. She was a mere inch from him.

Their eyes locked on each other for a moment.

Cameron felt her heart beat just a tad quicker in her chest.

House shrugged.

"Nothing," he said before he let himself out of the condo.

* * *

After dinner at Fusion, Chase convinced Cuddy to call the babysitter and tell her that they were going to stay out longer than they had planned.

He then took Cuddy to _Dave & Busters_, an indoor arcade and game center, in Hamilton Square.

After playing billiards, mini- basketball and a few driving games, they were standing next to each other playing Skee Ball. A large plastic cup overflowing with prize tickets that they had won from the games they had played that night was situated between them.

Cuddy rolled the ball down the Skee Ball aisle with deliberate speed, only to have it bounce off the top of the end of the aisle and land with a hard thunk underneath the concentric circles, not earning her any points.

"I suck at this," she said with a laugh.

Chase grinned and took her hand, pulling her over to his aisle.

"C'mere," he said, situating himself behind her.

He then pressed the front of his body up against her back, making sure she felt the bulge in his jeans against her ass. He wrapped his left arm around the front of her waist holding her close to him and placed his right hand over hers.

"You need a more gentle grip on the ball," he murmured, his lips brushing against the shell of her ear.

She smiled at him coyly. "Yeah, I seem to have that problem."

"Now just roll it," he said, bringing her arm back gracefully.

His hand still guiding hers, he helped her follow through. After she released the ball as he instructed, they both watched with anticipation as the ball glided down the track and land right in the center of the concentric circles, earning her 50 points, the highest point value.

Cuddy shrieked with glee. "I did it!"

"See? You're a natural," he told her with a broad grin on his face, loving how much she was enjoying herself.

She laughed. "Yeah, I should go pro."

He kissed her lips and side stepped over to her aisle, switching places.

They continued to roll a few more balls down their respective aisles. Chase watched Cuddy as she concentrated on following Chase's tip with each roll.

The conversation they had during dinner about the direction of their relationship had been replaying in Chase's mind for the better part of the night.

"…So… where do you see this going between us?" Chase asked out of nowhere, repeating the same question she had asked him at the restaurant.

"… Kind of a heavy question for a first date, isn't it?" she quipped lightly, repeating his exact response, never taking her eyes off the game.

"You obviously asked me that question because you _HAVE_ been thinking about where this is going," he replied, rolling another ball down the aisle.

"I have…" she admitted.

"…But I shouldn't be," she added.

"Why not?" he asked, pausing and turning to her before taking his next shot.

"Because you were right. I should just enjoy the time we have together…" she began.

She then turned to him and wrapped her arms slowly around his neck.

"Because I do," she told him with a tiny smile.

He wrapped his arms loosely around her waist in kind, arching his eyebrow.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes," she stated confidently. "Now are you gonna win me that stuffed purple koala that I've had my eye on all night?"

He chuckled. "Sure."

She lifted up slightly and kissed the tip of his nose, to which he brushed his lips against her chin and playfully swatted her behind.

But as she turned back to continue playing Skee Ball, he would shoot her a sidelong glance now and again, pretty sure that she had just lied right to his face.

* * *

That night, after bringing Chase back to her place, informing Claudia the babysitter that she would not be needing her services in the future and checking on Rachel, she quickly headed down the hallway to her bedroom, shedding her clothes along the way.

By the time she got to her room, she was only clad in her matching black demi bra and thong panties.

Chase, still wearing his button down and jeans, quickly propped himself up on his elbows on her bed, his eyes widening tremendously at the sight of her.

But before he could say anything, she climbed onto the bed and straddled his body.

"Tonight… you are going to do _exactly_ as I say," she told him seductively as she placed both her legs on either side of him, resting on her knees.

He tried to sit up a bit more, but she pushed forcefully him back down on the bed, her eyes full of lust and passion.

"Do you understand?" she asked as she leaned over him, holding his wrists down on the bed, rolling her pelvis against his erection that was straining against his jeans.

Her breasts were a mere inch from his mouth. He wanted more than anything to grab the edge of the lacy fabric of her bra with his teeth to take what was his.

But the look in her eyes told him that if he behaved, he just might be rewarded.

So he nodded eagerly.

* * *

Chase lay on his back, gripping onto the sheets for dear life, his breath coming out in shallow, ragged gasps as Cuddy wildly rode his cock.

Straddling him, her knuckles turned white as she held onto the headboard, rocking her hips against him almost with a vengeance as he met her thrust for thrust.

"Sit up," she commanded him, her voice taking on a menacing edge to it.

Chase immediately sat up from his prone position on the bed and vigorously started sucking one of her erect nipples that had been teasing him mercilessly for most of the night.

This was their second round.

And until now, she hadn't allowed him to touch her with his hands or his mouth.

He wasn't even allowed to put his fingers through her hair while she was sucking his cock the first time. She had taken all of him in her mouth, the tip of his cock hitting the back of her throat.

He wanted so much to thrust up into her mouth, but every time he tried, she'd dig her nails into his thigh to punish him for disobeying her.

Cuddy had never been this dominating in bed.

And he loved it.

He skated his hands up her back as he suckled her, his shaft almost painfully erect inside her wet and tight velvety walls by this point.

Cuddy fisted the back of his hair and gave it a harsh tug, pulling his head back from her breast, making him groan in a mixture of pleasure and pain against her breast.

"You like that don't you?" she purred near his ear.

He groaned again as she bit down on his earlobe.

"Kiss me," she ordered him.

He crashed his lips against hers, their tongues dueling for dominance as she continued to ride him.

"I want you under me," he told her against her mouth in a low, gutteral voice as he tried to roll her onto her back.

But she tugged the back of his hair again.

Hard.

"_No_," she growled.

She squeezed her inner muscles, impaling himself of her, milking him of his orgasm as she kept a death grip on his hair. He exploded violently into her, crying out in the darkness of her bedroom.

Cuddy quickly placed her hand over his mouth to prevent him from waking up Rachel as she bit her own lip, tipping over the edge for the third time that night.

Finally, they both collapsed on the bed in a tangled, sweaty mess together, he on his back and her lying on his chest.

As they tried to catch their breath, Chase smiled broadly, completely satisfied.

"Wow…" he managed to say.

"… yeah," she breathed.

"You need to dominate me more often. That was _amazing_," he told her, still trying to even out his breathing as he kissed the top of her head.

Breathing hard, she merely nodded, saying nothing.

Confident that he couldn't see her face in the darkness of her bedroom, she wiped a stray tear out of her eye, drying her fingertips on the sheets.  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**NEXT MORNING.**

**SUNDAY.**

The next morning, Chase woke up in Cuddy's bed alone with a dull headache in the back of his head where Cuddy had practically torn his hair out.

He stretched out his body like a cat, smiling, as memories of their aggressive love making from the night before came flooding back to him.

And then he stopped in mid- stretch, realizing with sudden and intense panic that it was morning and he was still in Cuddy's bed.

They had forgotten to set the alarm for 3:30 AM as they usually did so he would have ample time to go back to his hotel, shower and change just in case for some odd reason that Cameron would show up there out of nowhere.

And Cuddy hadn't woken him up.

He quickly scrambled for his cell phone, which was resting on the night- stand and frantically checked for any messages. He had planned ahead and arranged to have all of the calls to his hotel room forwarded to his cell phone.

Realizing there were no messages, he breathed a sigh of relief, flopping back down on the bed.

As he lay back on the bed, his thoughts drifted to Cameron.

Since separating from her almost a month ago, he was surprised at how well they had been getting along.

They were now both working for Foreman back in Diagnostics, with House merely observing and giving advice here and there.

And the rhythm that he and Cameron had established over the years had returned as if no time had passed.

They joked around and laughed together, and even shared a meal here and there during working hours.

Of course, Cameron had absolutely no idea that he had been involved with Cuddy all this time.

And until the two of them decided to finally divorce, he had decided that she wasn't going to find out.

At that moment, the smell of fresh coffee entered his nostrils and the sound of Rachel laughing from the kitchen echoed down the hallway.

Figuring that there was nothing he could do about oversleeping now, he threw off the covers, got out of the bed and pulled on his boxers and jeans, which Cuddy had strewn all over the floor last night.

After stopping at the bathroom to take a piss and brush his teeth, he raked his hand through the front of his hair a few times as he entered the kitchen, finding Cuddy taking bagels out of the toaster.

She was dressed in a pair of soft white cotton shorts and a fitted navy blue t- shirt. Her hair was wet, which meant that she had already showered.

Rachel was sitting in her high chair, eating Cheerios out of a tiny plastic bowl with her fingers, drinking out of a sippy cup and playing with a few soft blocks on the tray of the high chair.

"Hey, sleepyhead," she said to Chase as she crossed the kitchen to him, handing him a red mug full of coffee.

He kissed her lightly on the lips, tasting the clean mint flavored toothpaste she had used, and took the mug from her.

"We forgot to set the alarm," he said, taking his coffee with him to the table.

"Well, we both fell asleep right afterwards," she said with a little laugh as she went back to the counter to pour her own cup.

"How come you didn't wake me up?" he asked, taking the teaspoon off the napkin that she had set for him at the table and stirring it slowly in his coffee.

"Figured you needed the rest," she joked with a shrug as she went back to the refrigerator to retrieve the container of soy milk she used in her own coffee.

"You know that I'm not supposed to stay overnight," he reminded her.

"Those were your rules, not mine," she muttered angrily as she took the milk container out of the fridge.

Chase drew in a breath at her sudden mood change, exhaling loudly in frustration.

"If something's bothering you—" he began evenly.

At this, she slammed the refrigerator door closed, making Rachel flinch slightly in her high chair.

"Does it _matter_ if something's bothering me?!" she exclaimed.

Chase glanced at Rachel, who stared at her mother with widened eyes, scared.

"Yeah, it does," Chase said in a calm voice.

Cuddy grunted in disgust and took Rachel out of her highchair. She held Rachel on her hip and gave her the sippy cup in an attempt to soothe her before she started to cry.

"Fine. Something's bothering me. A _LOT_ of things are bothering me," she said. Her tone was decidedly softer, but her anger was still seething through.

"Then let's talk about it," he pressed.

At first, Cuddy said nothing. She continued to hold Rachel as she drank from her sippy cup as she gathered her thoughts.

"You practically ripped my hair out while we were making love last night," he told her.

She glanced at him briefly, focusing back on Rachel, bobbing her up and down on her hip.

She had so many emotions churning inside her brain that she had no idea where to begin.

"Please talk to me," Chase insisted.

"I'm too old for this," she stated, finally meeting his eyes.

"I'm too old to live in the moment and to have a casual relationship and pretend that I can just enjoy whatever time we have together," she continued in agitation.

"So what do you want?" he asked.

"I want you to divorce her," she declared firmly.

At this, Chase took another breath, placed his hands on his hips and stared at the floor.

"I want us to come home to each other every night, I want to wake up with you every morning, I want us to go places without having to hide it from the rest of the world… I want the three of us to go on a vacation or to the beach or an amusement park…" Cuddy babbled on.

Chase pressed his lips together and focused on her once more with a hopeless, pathetic expression on his face, at which she immediately stopped her rant.

"… And I know that you can't give that to me, so there's no reason for us to be even having this discussion," she mumbled miserably as she placed Rachel back in her high chair.

"You don't think I want all of that too?" he asked.

"That's not what you said last night," she replied, leaning back against the counter.

He crossed the room to her, placing his hands on both sides of her cheeks, at which she immediately tsked and turned away from him.

"Look at me," he said, gently turned her face towards him, looking deeply into her soft, yet glassy blue- grey eyes.

"I said what I said last night because the last thing I want to do is hurt you and Rachel," he explained.

She nodded, blinking back the tears welled up in her eyes.

"This is hard for me too," he added.

"I know," she whispered sadly.

"I want us to come home to each other every night… and I want us to wake up to each other every morning," he told her sincerely.

"And if you want the three of us to go to the beach… I'll take you," he said, wiping away a stray tear that had slipped down her cheek.

Despite how lousy she felt, she laughed. "I was just rambling—"

"I'd love to go to the shore with you and Rachel. We can go for a long weekend," he said with a tender smile.

"What would you tell Cameron?" she asked.

He paused as he thought of a response.

At the moment he had a good thing going with Cuddy _AND_ Cameron.

And he wasn't about to screw it up.

"_Nothing_," he finally answered, shaking his head.

"What if she finds out?" she asked. "You work together, you're still friends with her—"

"She won't find out," he decided.

Cuddy searched his eyes. She trusted Chase and she wanted so desperately to believe him.

She gave him a sheepish smile and smoothed out the back of his hair lovingly.

"I'm sorry I pulled your hair," she said.

"I kinda liked it," he told her with a shrug and a lopsided grin.

He then leaned forward slightly and nuzzled the tip of her nose with his.

"If we go to the beach, I'll have to get floaties for Rachel," she whispered, losing herself in his gentleness.

"Mmm hmmm," he murmured before kissing her.

* * *

That night, House and Wilson were watching _The Jeff Corwin Experience_ on Animal Planet when there was a knock at Wilson's door.

Wilson got up and went to answer it, knowing that House had no intention of getting off the couch.

He was rather surprised to see Cameron standing in the doorway.

"Hi," Cameron said tentatively.

"… Hi," Wilson replied.

"Is House here?" she asked.

Wilson hesitated a moment before letting her in, having an unnerving feeling that he knew why she was there.

She stepped into the apartment and saw House sitting on the couch, which was facing away from her. He didn't bother to turn around.

She walked around to the couch and sat down on the couch next to him.

"Surprised you held out this long," he commented, still focusing on the TV.

"I needed time to think," she told him.

He turned to her with a calm, yet expectant gaze.

"Who is she?" she asked, her voice cracking, barely able to get the words out.

"… I never said Chase was having an affair—"

"_Who is she_?" she repeated, slowly and more deliberate, piercing him with her eyes.

From his position standing behind the couch, Wilson braced himself for the inevitable explosion as House and Cameron's eyes remained locked on each other.

House's facial expression remained calm as he shrugged.

"I told you. Nobody," House replied.

Wilson's eyes almost popped out of his head at House's blatant lie.

But he remained silent.

Cameron was dumbfounded.

"Then… why did you tell me all that—" she began.

"I was curious how you'd react," he told her simply.

She laughed in disgust.

"You're an ass," she stated as she got up off the couch and left the apartment, slamming the door on her way out.

A tiny smirk appeared on House's face as Wilson's jaw remained slacked open.

"Why didn't you tell her?" Wilson demanded.

"Because I decided that it's going to be more fun to screw with Chase than with Cameron," House said, his smirk remaining.

TBC…


	17. Chapter 16

**HI EVERYONE!**

**SADLY, THERE'S ONLY A FEW MORE CHAPTERS LEFT ON THIS ONE. :(**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING AND FOR ALL YOUR WONDERFUL COMMENTS.**

**I HOPE YOU STICK AROUND WITH ME UNTIL THE END.**

**HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :D **

* * *

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

**SUNDAY MORNING: CUDDY'S KITCHEN.**

"I want you to divorce her," Cuddy declared firmly.

At this, Chase took another breath, placed his hands on his hips and stared at the floor.

"I want us to come home to each other every night, I want to wake up with you every morning, I want us to go places without having to hide it from the rest of the world… I want the three of us to go on a vacation or to the beach or an amusement park…" Cuddy babbled on.

Chase pressed his lips together and focused on her once more with a hopeless, pathetic expression on his face, at which she immediately stopped her rant.

"… And I know that you can't give that to me, so there's no reason for us to be even having this discussion," she mumbled miserably as she placed Rachel back in her high chair.

"You don't think I want all of that too?" he asked.

"That's not what you said last night," she replied, leaning back against the counter.

He crossed the room to her, placing his hands on both sides of her cheeks, at which she immediately tsked and turned away from him.

"Look at me," he said, gently turned her face towards him, looking deeply into her soft, yet glassy blue- grey eyes.

"I said what I said last night because the last thing I want to do is hurt you and Rachel," he explained.

She nodded, blinking back the tears welled up in her eyes.

"This is hard for me too," he added.

"I know," she whispered sadly.

"I want us to come home to each other every night… and I want us to wake up to each other every morning," he told her sincerely.

"And if you want the three of us to go to the beach… I'll take you," he said, wiping away a stray tear that had slipped down her cheek.

Despite how lousy she felt, she laughed. "I was just rambling—"

"I'd love to go to the shore with you and Rachel. We can go to Ocean Place for a long weekend," he said with a tender smile.

"What would you tell Cameron?" she asked.

He paused as he thought of a response.

At the moment he had a good thing going with both Cameron and Cuddy.

And he wasn't about to screw it up.

"_Nothing_," he finally answered, shaking his head.

"What if she finds out?" she asked. "You work together on House's team, you're still friends with her—"

"She won't find out," he decided.

Cuddy searched his eyes. She trusted Chase and she wanted so desperately to believe him. She gave him a sheepish smile and smoothed out the back of his hair lovingly.

"I'm sorry I pulled your hair," she said.

"I kinda liked it," he told her with a shrug and a lopsided grin.

He then leaned forward slightly and nuzzled the tip of her nose with his.

"If we go to the beach, I'll have to get floaties for Rachel," she whispered, losing herself in his gentleness.

"Mmm hmmm," he murmured before kissing her.

* * *

The next morning, Chase was sitting at the glass table in House's conference room, reading the information he had printed off the website from Ocean Place, a family oriented resort on the Jersey Shore.

Last night, he had booked he, Cuddy and Rachel into a deluxe room with an ocean view for the upcoming weekend.

His eyes skimmed over to the 'Special Accomodations' section at the bottom of the printout, which showed the extra fee the hotel had charged him for a crib to be placed in the room for Rachel.

He laughed to himself, remembering the conversation he and Cuddy had the night before in her bed when he was booking the weekend on her laptop.

"She's not sleeping on a stained crib mattress that some other kid peed and pooped on," Cuddy had declared firmly, leaning against his bare chest as she stared at the screen.

"Well they already charged me for it," Chase had pointed out, somehow managing to balance Cuddy's laptop on his stretched out legs while she teasingly slipped her fingertips underneath the waistband of his boxers.

"I'll talk to the manager when we check out," she had reassured him.

She then took the laptop off of his legs and placed it on the night- stand.

"Why do I have a feeling that we're not going to be paying for that crib?" Chase had asked.

Cuddy had turned back towards him, a sexy grin playing about her lips. Chase gave her a lingering once over, his cock stiffening at the sight of her breasts in a very low cut pink cotton camisole and how her white bikini cut panties hugged her hips.

"Because you know me so well," she had replied coyly.

He smiled, lost in thought at the memory of how he had buried her face in her breasts right after she had answered him when Cameron came into the office, jarring him out of his thoughts.

"Hey," Cameron said with a cordial smile.

"Hey," he replied, hoping he sounded casual as he immediately sat up straighter, folded the printout of the hotel confirmation in half and shoved it in his messenger bag which was resting on an empty chair next to him.

Cameron sat down at the table and opened up her own bag, taking out a few envelopes, completely unaware what Chase had been looking at.

"You got some mail," she told him, giving him the envelopes.

"Thanks," he told her, taking them.

Cameron gazed at him thoughtfully as Chase began to peruse the pile of mail, her stomach churning with anxiety at what she was about to tell him.

"How was your weekend?" she asked him.

At this, Chase looked up at her nervously.

He had spent the weekend with Cuddy. They had gone out on a date to a restaurant away from campus and a Dave and Busters on Saturday, and then he had spent the entire day with her and Rachel.

"…Ok. How was yours?" he asked, trying to keep his voice from cracking as he spoke.

Cameron drew in a breath, steeling herself inwardly.

"… I… went on a date on Saturday night," Cameron admitted.

Chase's eyebrows shot up almost to the top of his forehead.

"Y-you…" he began, completely stunned by her admission.

"He's an architect. His name is Michael. Michelle introduced us," Cameron continued in a rather apologetic voice.

At the mention of the name '_Michelle_,' Chase immediately remembered her as Cameron's one insufferable friend.

Still not fully believing his ears, he continued to stare at her, flabbergasted. Cameron leaned forward just a bit, bracing herself for his reaction.

Knowing that he should probably say something, he said the only thing that came to his mind.

"… How did it go?" he finally asked.

"…We... had a nice time," she replied, her eyebrow arching a bit, not expecting him to be so calm.

Chase nodded slowly.

"We had dinner at Fusion," she added, feeling obligated to tell him the details.

And that's when Chase froze.

He had taken Cuddy to Fusion on Saturday night.

"_F- Fusion_?" he stammered.

"It's a French- Thai place outside of Princeton," she explained.

"Yeah, I've … I've heard of it," he told her tentatively, feeling his heart hammer inside his chest.

"It was totally packed. We didn't get a table until after ten," Cameron said, babbling a bit.

Upon hearing this, Chase relaxed somewhat. He and Cuddy had left the restaurant before ten that night. And apparently, she hadn't seen him or Cuddy there.

"…I just thought you should know about it," Cameron said with a tiny shrug.

Feeling in the clear for the moment, Chase decided to change the focus of the conversation.

"Do you like him?" he asked her.

"I don't know yet. We've only been on one date…" she began.

"Are you angry with me?" she asked him.

"… No…"

"But you're not happy about it," she pressed.

"I'm… surprised," he said, still absorbing everything and still hoping that Cameron still had no idea that he had been at the restaurant on the same night.

Before they could continue the conversation, Foreman entered the conference room carrying a few patients files in his hands.

"Got a case," he said, tossing the files onto the table. "Twenty five year old female with fever, cluster headaches, nausea and vomiting. ER already ruled out food poisoning and the flu."

Chase, thankful for the diversion, grabbed one of the folders and immersed himself in it.

"Could be norovirus," Chase suggested, scanning the page, but not really reading any of the words on it.

"She has a fever," Foreman reminded him. "It's not norovirus."

"Shouldn't we wait for House?" Cameron said.

"I'm here," House suddenly said, exiting his private office.

The three of them looked up and watched House approach the conference table and take a seat with them.

Upon sitting down, House ignored the file and immediately locked his cool yet bright blue eyes with Chase.

Chase darted a glance at the glass door that led to House's private office, only then realizing that the door had been propped open the entire time he had been talking to Cameron.

* * *

During the differential, House kept staring at Chase, not once looking at the file or offering an opinion while Foreman, Chase and Cameron offered possible diagnoses.

After a few minutes, Foreman ordered Chase and Cameron to go run tests.

House was still staring at Chase.

He watched Chase leave the file on the glass table and get up out of his seat. He watched him leave the room with Foreman and Cameron.

And once they were out of sight, he got up from the table and limped around to the other side, where Chase's bag was still resting on the chair next to the one that Chase had been sitting on.

He began rooting through Chase's bag, looking for the paper that he had seen Chase reading and smiling over when Chase thought he wasn't looking.

As he read the top of the page, a smirk was already forming on his face as he formulated in his mind how he was going to dramatically enter Wilson's office to gleefully tell him the juicy news that Chase and Cuddy were sneaking off to a romantic getaway.

And then he saw the bottom of the page:

**SPECIAL ACCOMODATIONS:**

**1 CRIB CHARGE: $50.00**

And the smirk on his face disappeared.

* * *

A few moments later, House entered Wilson's office.

Wilson was at his desk, reviewing a patient's file when House tossed the papers he had found in Chase's bag onto the file in front of him.

"I found this in Chase's bag," House said.

"What were you doing in Chase's bag?" Wilson asked, picking up the paper to read it.

"Looking for condoms," he deadpanned.

Wilson glared at him for a moment before focusing back on the paper.

"I didn't find any. Cuddy must be on the pill," House added in his signature sarcastic voice as he took a seat in front of Wilson's desk.

Wilson didn't respond to him as he pushed the paper aside in disinterest and turned back to his work.

"They're going to Ocean Place on the Jersey Shore for the weekend," House said.

"I can read," Wilson replied.

"Apparently not, because you didn't see the bottom," House said, picking up the paper and putting it in front of Wilson once more.

"And what am I looking for?" Wilson asked in annoyance, scanning the bottom of the page.

"They ordered a crib for the room," House told him.

"Which means..." Wilson said, trailing off dramatically.

"That Rachel's coming with them," House explained.

Wilson furrowed his brow. "Still waiting for the deeper meaning here."

"_Which means it's not just sex_," House stated evenly, meeting Wilson's eyes.

At this, Wilson's sarcasm disappeared. He stared at his friend, who for the first time, was showing his true feelings since he had found out about Chase and Cuddy's affair.

"He loves her," House said in a gruff voice, his eyes reflecting the hurt he had been hiding.

"… Maybe… she couldn't get a baby sitter," Wilson offered weakly.

"Ocean Place is a family resort. If they wanted a romantic getaway they wouldn't go there," House said softly.

Wilson gazed at House sympathetically. He had been through so much in the last few months.

"Are you ok?" Wilson asked.

House gazed at him for a moment longer before he collected himself.

"Fine," he replied.

He then pushed himself up off the chair and left Wilson's office, leaving Wilson to only watch him with a heavy heart.

* * *

A while later, Chase returned to House's private office with a printout of their patient's latest blood work. House was sitting at his desk, twirling his grey and red tennis ball in contemplation.

"Tests were all negative," Chase reported to him, handing him the printout.

House paused before taking the paper from him, merely staring at him.

Chase arched his eyebrow, wondering when House was going to look at the results.

But instead, House picked up another paper from his desk and gave it to Chase.

"I'd leave early. There's always traffic on the Garden State Parkway on the weekends," House told him as he handed him the paper.

Chase felt his stomach rise up into his throat.

He recognized the paper immediately as his itinerary and confirmation for Ocean Place, the resort he was taking Cuddy and Rachel to this weekend.

He ripped the paper out of House's hand, as if that would somehow make House forget what he had discovered.

"Where did you find this?" Chase demanded quietly.

"In your bag," House replied simply.

"What the hell are you doing going through my personal—" Chase began angrily.

"How long do you think you can keep this up?" House asked him calmly.

Chase kept an irate stare on House for a moment, his eyes still blazing furiously at House's invasion of his privacy.

But as House kept an even, patient gaze on him, House's words finally sank in.

Chase exhaled deeply and slumped into one of the chairs in front of House's desk. He began rubbing his face slowly, his eyes downcast, as he had done years ago when he had been confronted by his lies about how he had handled the case of Kayla, the patient that he had killed.

The two men sat in silence for a few moments, House waiting for Chase to say something, Chase still letting the magnitude of what he was involved in wash over him.

"I suppose you're gonna run right to Cameron after this," Chase finally said.

"It's not my place to tell Cameron," House replied.

"How long have you known?" Chase asked softly, still not looking at the older man.

"Since I heard the two of you having sex in Cuddy's office," House told him.

At this, Chase closed his eyes, wishing he could just disappear.

"See, closing the blinds only block people from _SEEING_ things," House said pedantically.

Chase tsked, leaning back in the chair, still too embarrassed to look at House.

But House wasn't about to let up.

"Do you love Cuddy?" House asked plainly.

"Why is that any of your business?" Chase mumbled.

"'Cause if you don't, you'd better end it right now," House told him.

At this, Chase finally met House's eyes, some of his anger resurfacing.

"Why? You gonna hit me again if I don't? Is this some House way of marking your territory?" Chase demanded bitingly.

"You think this is about me?" House asked with slight amusement.

"Like you give a _crap_ about anyone else?" Chase countered.

House drew in a breath, letting it out slowly.

"I slept with someone while I was at Mayfield," House revealed.

"… Another patient?" Chase asked, rather surprised.

"Family member of a patient," House explained.

Chase nodded slowly, having no idea what House was getting at.

"She came to visit her sister in law a few times… we got close… one thing led to another—" House continued vaguely.

"She was married?" Chase asked, to which House nodded.

"After that, she decided to transfer her sister in law to a rehab facility in Arizona with her family. So I went to her house and told her not to go…" House trailed off with slight embarrassment as the memories of the entire experience came flooding back to him.

"You got hurt," Chase said, now finally understanding the meaning behind House's story.

"Yeah," House said in a rough voice.

Chase sat further back in his chair, realizing all at once what House had been implying.

"You felt guilty when Cameron told you about her date because she told you the _truth_," House stated.

Chase pressed his lips together, a weird sensation spreading through his chest, the illusion that he had a good thing going with Cuddy and Cameron all this time shattering into a million pieces inside of him.

"You can't have it both ways, Chase. Either you end it with Cuddy, break her heart and try to save your marriage... or you divorce Cameron, tell her the truth, break _HER_ heart and make a real commitment to Cuddy," House told him.

Chase looked back down at his lap, feeling as if House was his father and he was being scolded.

"Why does it have to be that way?" Chase whispered sadly.

"Because there _is_ no other way," House replied.

"If I keep doing this, then _no one_ gets hurt," Chase told him, almost desperately.

"That's not true and you know it," House told him.

Chase still couldn't look his boss in the eye.

"You take Cuddy on this little getaway with Rachel and she's gonna think you want the three of you to be a family," House explained. "And if that's not what you want—"

"I don't know what I want," Chase confessed.

"Well you'd better figure it out," House told him.

"…You sure you're not gonna tell Cameron?" Chase asked weakly.

"I already told you it's not my place to tell Cameron," House repeated.

And with that, House left his office, leaving Chase alone to mull everything over.

TBC…


	18. Chapter 17

**HI EVERYONE!**

**WELL, WE'RE GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER TO THE END. :(**

**BUT HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER!**

**THERE ARE A FEW MORE AFTER THIS ONE.**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY! :D **

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Please read and comment.**

"You can't have it both ways, Chase. Either you end it with Cuddy, break her heart and try to save your marriage... or you divorce Cameron, tell her the truth, break _HER_ heart and make a real commitment to Cuddy," House told him.

Chase looked back down at his lap, feeling as if House was his father and he was being scolded.

"Why does it have to be that way?" Chase whispered sadly.

"Because there _is_ no other way," House replied.

"If I keep doing this, then _no one_ gets hurt," Chase told him, almost desperately.

"That's not true and you know it," House told him.

Chase still couldn't look his boss in the eye.

"You take Cuddy on this little getaway with Rachel and she's gonna think you want the three of you to be a family," House explained. "And if that's not what you want—"

"I don't know what I want," Chase confessed.

"Well you'd better figure it out," House told him.

"…You sure you're not gonna tell Cameron?" Chase asked weakly.

"I already told you it's not my place to tell Cameron," House repeated.

And with that, House left his office, leaving Chase alone to mull everything over.

* * *

Later that evening, Cuddy was at her desk, miserably reading a letter she had received from one of the hospital's largest donors who had only wrote to inform her that he would not be able to make his regular contribution to Princeton Plainsboro this year because of his losses in the stock market when House came into her office.

"What is it?" she muttered, still glaring over the letter in front of her.

House stood in the middle of her office, leaning heavily on his cane, as if it was the only thing holding him up.

When he didn't respond, she looked up with a sigh.

"House, what do you want?" she asked with an impatient tone and expression.

"Why Chase?" he asked curiously.

Cuddy froze.

Her breath caught in her throat and a painful sensation began spreading through her chest.

She couldn't speak.

House bright blue eyes penetrated her from the other side of her office, as he patiently waited for an answer.

Questions immediately raced through her mind: _When did he find out? HOW did he find out? Did Wilson tell him? Did he figure it out on his own? Does Cameron know?_

But she remained silent, keeping her cool.

"Is it because he's married, so it's exciting and forbidding? Or were you just unable to resist his boyish charm and great hair?" he asked, a snarky edge to his voice.

"By the way, I've always wanted to know if he was a natural blond," House added.

At this, calm realization washed over her. She sat up a little straighter meeting his eyes with her own soft grey ones.

"That's not what you really want to know," she stated plainly, knowing all too well that his sarcastic demeanor was a front for his real feelings.

House glanced down at the floor.

"…Do you love him?" he asked gruffly.

"Yes," she said, barely above a whisper.

House nodded slightly, still avoiding her gaze.

"Do you think he loves you?" he asked.

Cuddy's eyes widened slightly, caught off guard by his question.

"… I hope he does—"

"Do you think he loves you _ENOUGH_ to divorce Cameron and live happily ever after with you and Rachel?" House clarified, interrupting her, finally meeting her eyes again.

His words cut through her like a knife.

The same question had been plaguing her since her date with Chase the other night. She had even admitted to Chase the next morning that she wanted him to divorce Cameron and build a life with her.

And for some reason, it had just occurred to her that Chase had never told her that he loved her or had actually said that he was finally ready to end his marriage.

"I don't know," she admitted in a raspy voice.

"What if he doesn't?" House pressed.

"Then I'll have to deal with it," she replied.

"And it'd be that easy?" House wasn't letting up.

"No. It would be the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life," she stated sincerely.

House kept a cool and even gaze on her, mulling over her words.

"Does Cameron know?" Cuddy asked warily, not really wanting to know the answer.

"If she does, it's not because _I_ told her anything," House muttered.

Cuddy stiffened at his words.

"What does that mean?" she asked quietly.

House didn't respond.

Knowing that House was too careful and calculated to make an innocent statement like that without some deeper meaning behind it, she got up from her chair and crossed the room to him.

"What did you tell Chase?" she demanded of him slowly, her eyes penetrating him.

"That he has to make a choice. You or Cameron," House answered her.

Cuddy could feel venomous anger rising within her. She hardened her jaw, her eyes blazing.

"You son of a _BITCH__!_" she spat out at him.

But House only laughed.

"You're _ANGRY_ at me?" he said incredulous.

"You had _NO RIGHT_ to get involved with my personal life!" she yelled at him.

"You _SUCK_ at your personal life!" he yelled back.

She laughed in disgust. "So _YOU'RE_ my hero? Sweeping in to save me from myself? When's the last time you were involved with someone that you didn't have to pay for on a credit card?!" she asked him, her voice laden with sarcasm, gesturing with her hands as she spoke.

"You think Chase is going to be able to live a double life forever?" he asked her, cutting right to the heart of the matter.

"They're already separated," she argued.

"A separation isn't the same thing as a divorce no matter _HOW_ much you convince yourself that it is!" he told her.

"What do you care?!" she demanded, her face now only inches away from his.

"Because as long as he stays married to her, you're _NOTHING_ to him!" House yelled, his own anger finally seeping through.

"You're his _WHORE_," he added menacingly.

At first, she flinched at his words, saying nothing.

And then she slapped him right across his face.

The crack of the palm of her hand making contact with his cheek echoed through her office as his head turned as quick as a flash.

He hardened his jaw as he turned back to her, the pain from the slap radiating through his face, his embarrassment throbbing somewhere deeper within him.

"_Get out_," she seethed.

Having nothing else to say, he turned around and limped out of her office while her own cheeks burned in humiliation.

* * *

At the same time, Chase was standing on the roof of the hospital, watching the sun set over Princeton, lost in thought.

Ethereal pinks and purples softly blended in with the orange close to the horizon. The soft warm summer breeze blowing past him did little to ease his mind, which was plagued by House's voice.

**"YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS, CHASE."**

**"YOU TAKE CUDDY ON THIS LITTLE GETAWAY WITH RACHEL AND SHE'S GONNA THINK YOU WANT THE THREE OF YOU TO BE A FAMILY."**

He drew in a breath, his hands resting in his pockets, knowing that he couldn't go on like this much longer.

He knew what he had to do.

So at that moment, he decided to do it.

He turned around, leaving the setting sun behind him, and went back through the door of the hospital.

* * *

At around 9 pm that evening, Cuddy was sitting on the couch, drinking a cup of Chamomile tea, ignoring the incessant ringing of her cell phone.

Chase was calling her.

In fact, he'd been calling her for the last ten minutes.

But she had no interest in talking to him.

She knew that he wouldn't call her landline, because he knew that Rachel was already sleeping.

And the fact that he knew that only made her angrier about everything.

Because part of her believed House's every word.

She did feel like Chase's whore.

When she had confessed to Chase that she wanted him to divorce Cameron, he had neatly sidestepped the question in his usual gentle and caring manner.

House had always called him a sneaky bastard.

She was starting to think he was right.

Eventually the phone stopped ringing and went to voicemail.

She took another sip of her tea before turning her cell phone off, noting the time on the cable box, predicting that it would be twenty minutes before Chase showed up at her doorstep.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Cuddy heard a knock at her front door.

"Five minutes early," she muttered in disgust as she pushed herself off the couch and crossed the room to answer it.

After slowly opening the door, she forced herself to ignore Chase's worrisome facial expression and posture, which were both demanding an explanation from her.

"Why didn't you pick up the phone?" he demanded.

"Because I didn't want to talk to you," she replied, simply.

For a moment, he stared at her confused.

But then he realized.

"House talked to you, didn't he?" he said.

She laughed curtly, turning around and walked back to the living room.

"_What did he say to you?_" he pressed her, following her in and closing the door behind him.

She turned to him, her face full of loathing, folding her arms across her chest.

"He called me your whore," she stated flatly.

Chase's eyes widened tremendously.

"_WHAT_?!"

"And he's right," she added, a tiny laugh escaping her lips.

"No he's _not_!" he exclaimed.

"Yes he is because you're still married," Cuddy said.

"And if you continue to _STAY_ married and sleep with me at the same time, then I AM your whore," she continued, taking a pause to prepare herself for what she was about to say.

"…And that's not what I want," she told him, her arms still crossed against her body, trying to stop her lower lip from quivering.

"I don't want that either," Chase began sincerely.

She closed her eyes and shook her head, angling her jaw to prevent the tears that were already welling up in her eyes from rolling down her cheeks.

"Chase, don't insult me with false platitudes and your tender—"

"_I'm divorcing her_," he interrupted her, causing her to fall silent.

She stared at him blankly, not quite sure she had heard him correctly.

He placed his hands gently on her arms, willing her to unclench, gazing deeply into her glassy eyes.

"After we get back from the shore this weekend, I'm telling Cameron I want a divorce," he repeated.

Her breath quickened and her heart hammered in her chest, completely at a loss for words.

"_I love you, Lisa_," he said, his voice sweet and full of emotion, a beautiful smile on his face.

"And I'm sorry that it took House sticking his nose into our lives for me to tell you that," he added.

She laughed, the tears finally escaping.

"I slapped him," she said with a sniff.

He laughed out loud and pulled her close to him. She exhaled deeply against his chest and closed her eyes, losing herself blissfully in his embrace.

"I love you too," she said, her voice muffled by his body and his shirt.

Chase lifted her chin to meet his gaze, smiling lovingly at her.

"Think Rachel'll stay asleep long enough for us to have make up sex?" his eyes twinkling eagerly.

She snorted and rolled her eyes as she took his hand, leading him to the bedroom.

* * *

It didn't take long before they were pulling off each other's t- shirts, kissing hungrily.

They moaned into each other's mouths as their tongues dueled for dominance. Chase fumbled with her bra hook, finally releasing her breasts from the confines of the lycra garment, pulling it off her body before lowering her down to the bed.

She ran her fingers through the back of his hair, encouraging him as he trailed his tongue down her neck to her breasts. She arched back with a whimper as he wrapped his lips around her perky nipple fluttering his tongue against her peak.

Underneath him, she rocked her hips desperately against his. He was still wearing his jeans, she still in her yoga pants, but the friction of his cock against her clit was already driving her mad. He ground her against her harder, moaning against her right breast as he possessively fondled her other one.

"Stop teasing me," she breathed.

Obeying her command, he reached down in between their bodies and slipped his hand underneath her yoga pants, her wet slick folds feeling delicious against his fingertips. She was more than ready for him. He rubbed her clit, making tight, small circles, already feeling her weeping flesh squeezing against his fingers. She squealed against his bare shoulder, so close to tipping over the edge.

"You're gonna cum, baby?" he murmured roughly into her ear, his hard shaft throbbing.

"… Mhm…" Her clit tingled even more at his words.

He immediately withdrew his fingers, causing her to groan in frustration.

But she gasped aloud when he hooked his fingers into the waistband of her yoga pants, pulling them down along with her panties, kicking them off the bed.

Now completely naked before him, he licked his way down her taut abdomen, finally nuzzling his nose against the soft hairs at the apex, reveling in her sweet scent. He nudged her legs apart, nestling in between them, kissing the inside of her quivering thighs, slowly making his way towards her center.

She felt like she was about to dissolve into a puddle of need right then and there.

"...Please…" she squeaked.

"Please what?" he said, his mouth at the juncture between her hip and her thigh, his tongue teasing there mercilessly.

She couldn't answer him. She grabbed onto the blanket, her knuckles turning white as Chase brushed her glistening labia with his soft, full lips.

Glancing up at her, his cock twitched. Her lips were parted, her skin flushed a lovely shade of pink from arousal. From his position between her legs, he reached up with one hand and cupped her breast, his tongue hovering over her center.

"Please..." she repeated.

Chase needed no further invitation.

He licked her clit, causing her to cry out. Fluttering her tongue against her soft flesh, she let go of the blanket and fisted the back of his hair, thrusting her hips up into his face. Chase moaned against her pussy as he devoured her, grabbing the outside of her thighs possesively.

"_Oh god… oh god…_" he heard her cry out from above him, feeling her body stiffen.

She arched up off the bed as she went over. Chase moaned from between her legs, his lips and tongue working magic against her flesh, taking all that she was giving him.

Her body twitching from the aftershock, she finally relaxed and exhaled deeply, a slow, yet incredibly satisfied smile on her face.

He crawled back up her body, lying down next to her, placing his hand on her hip, kissing her shoulder as he pressed his now painfully erect cock, still confined by his jeans against her thigh.

"…I want more," he whispered into her ear.

She turned to him and engulfed his lips with her own. He desperately moaned into her mouth, pressing the bulge in his jeans against her naked wetness.

Still kissing him, she trailed her fingers down his chest to his jeans and undid the button. He helped her with the zipper and slid out of them and his boxers.

"How do you want me?" she whispered against his lips, her voice sultry and smoky.

He swallowed, his heart hammering in his chest as she pressed her naked body up against his. He immediately rolled her over onto her back, spreading her legs apart, sliding his length into her.

"Like this," he growled.

He thrust deeply inside her, over and over again, as she wrapped her legs around his hips, digging her nails into his back. He hissed, loving the feelings of pleasure and pain he was experiencing all at once.

His cock became impossibly harder with each deep, embedded thrust, her hardened nipples rubbing against his chest, his shaft giving her even more friction. He buried his face into her neck, groaning loudly as he exploded inside her.  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He exhaled deeply as he still lay on top of her, shifting his weight so as not to crush her. She sighed happily, trailing her fingers gently across his back, both their bodies sweaty and completely relaxed.

Just then, a soft cry came from Rachel bedroom.

Cuddy laughed. "Looks like we just got in under the wire," she said, pushing him off her gently.

But Chase held her down to the bed. "No, wait."

"Let her cry for a few minutes," he told her.

Cuddy raised her eyebrows, but Chase's hold on her remained.

"Let's just see what happens," he insisted.

Cuddy sighed and relaxed back on the bed, pressing her lips together as she watched the clock on her night stand, her entire body tensing and her heart breaking as Rachel continued to cry from the bedroom.

They remained on the bed, listening to Rachel cry more desperately as time went on.

They lay there for seven minutes.

The longest seven minutes of Cuddy's life.

But then, the crying stopped.

Cuddy sat up immediately at the silence, panicking. Chase placed a hand on her back.

"Relax," he soothed her.

"She stopped crying," Cuddy said nervously.

"That's the idea," he reminded her.

Not even bothering to get dressed, Cuddy dashed out of the bedroom and headed down the hallway to Rachel's room.

She held her breath, still naked, hovering over the crib, where Rachel was sleeping peacefully on her stomach, her tiny body rising and falling with each breath.

A moment later, Chase entered Rachel's room, wearing his boxers and holding Cuddy's t- shirt.

"You forget something?" he whispered, handing her the shirt.

A whisper of a laugh escaped her throat as she took the garment from him, slipping it over her head and pulling it down.

"Now are you gonna come back to bed and let her sleep already?" he whispered.

She smiled and nodded, taking his hand, letting him lead her back into the bedroom and back into her heart.

TBC…


	19. Chapter 18

**HI EVERYONE!**

**THANKS FOR BEING SO PATIENT. I'M SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED. BETWEEN MY OTHER FIC AND RL, IT'S BEEN HECTIC.**

**WELL, WE'RE GETTING CLOSER TO THE END. I THINK A FEW MORE CHAPTERS SHOULD DO IT.**

**THIS ONE'S A BIGGIE.**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS CHAPTER AND ENJOY!! :D **

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Please read and comment. **

**SATURDAY.**

At around ten thirty that morning, Chase and Cuddy strolled into the elegant lobby of the Ocean Place Beach Resort. Cuddy face brightened as she admired the bright floral arrangements that adorned her surroundings while she pushed Rachel in her stroller.

Carrying their bags and Rachel's Pack N Play, which was folded neatly in its vinyl bag and slung over his shoulder, Chase led them over to the front desk to check in.

"Hi, we have a reservation under Robert Chase," Chase told the perky young woman at the front desk, placing his hand across Cuddy's hip.

While the clerk searched through the computer system to find their reservation, Chase slid his hand south and squeezed Cuddy's ass gently over her white cotton mini skirt, causing her to smile just a bit. She shot him a sly glance, saying nothing.

"Ok, that's a deluxe no- smoking room, ocean view, king sized bed and a crib. Will you still be charging this on your American Express card?" the clerk asked.

"We won't be needing the crib," Cuddy assured her.

The clerk peered over the desk and saw Rachel in her stroller.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. Hotel policy states that a crib is mandatory if our guests have a child under the age of three," the clerk replied in an overly pleasant tone.

"And does the crib that your hotel provides meet the federal government's standards of the Consumer Product Safety Commission?" Cuddy asked, matching the clerk's tone without missing a beat.

"… I… don't know—" the young clerk stammered.

"You don't know the standards of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or you don't know if the crib meets those standards?" Cuddy clarified, interrupting her.

Chase bit his lip in an effort to keep the smirk off his face.

"Because if the crib that your hotel is providing _DOESN'T_ meet those standards, and collapses while my child is in it, then your hotel is going to have to pay a _LOT_ more than the fifty dollar fee you charged me for it when I sue your ass," Cuddy stated in her best Dean of Medicine voice, a pleasant smile plastered on her face.

Her jaw slacked open and having no idea what to do, the young female clerk just stood there, staring at her.

"Or you can just take the crib charge off the bill and we can pretend this conversation never took place," Cuddy added in a conspiratorial tone.

"… Ok…" the clerk finally said.

"Thank you," Cuddy said.

As the clerk immediately took the crib charge off her bill, Cuddy gave Chase a tiny wink and turned back to face the clerk.

Chase smiled, keeping his mouth shut, giving her ass another squeeze.

* * *

"That was _AWESOME_!" Chase declared, thoroughly impressed, once they were out of earshot of the front desk.

"I love that it takes so little to impress you," she replied with a grin.

"And I love that my woman kicks ass," he told her.

"Yeah well, I'm sure she called me a bitch as soon as we walked away," Cuddy told him.

"Does that bother you?" Chase asked.

"People call me that every day. By now I take it as a compliment," she quipped with a shrug.

Chase laughed. "You ready to see our ocean view?" he asked her.

She nodded eagerly as they continued to head to the elevator, the two of them completely unaware that Cameron had just entered the hotel accompanied by Michael, the new man she had recently started dating.

* * *

A few moments later, Chase unlocked and pushed open the door to their deluxe ocean view hotel room, holding the door open to allow Cuddy to push the stroller in.

Cuddy's lips parted in surprise as she looked around the tastefully decorated room, complete with a sumptuous king sized bed, an entertainment center, a small round table with two chairs, and a vase of fresh flowers on one of the night- stands.

"This is so nice," Cuddy remarked, still looking around the room in awe.

"You seem surprised," Chase commented, a twisted smile playing about his lips as he put down their bags and the Pack N Play bag.

"Oh, no not at all," Cuddy immediately corrected herself. "It's just…" she said, trailing off.

Chase's smile remained as he walked toward her.

"It's just what?" he asked teasingly.

"I…" she stammered.

"It's just that you didn't expect much from someone who can't match a shirt and tie and whose old apartment looked like a drunk rugby player decorated it," he finished for her, unable to stop grinning.

"Actually, I've never seen your old apartment," she replied coyly.

"So you agree with me about my lack of fashion sense," he clarified with raised eyebrows.

Cuddy bit her lip. "…I plead the fifth," she finally said, matching his smile.

He leaned forward and kissed her gently.

"Wanna see the view?" he asked, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

Cuddy took Rachel out of the stroller and picked her up, following Chase to the balcony sliding doors. After opening the door for her, she walked out onto the small patio, the salty sea air engulfing her senses.

"It's beautiful," she said, the warm summer breeze caressing her skin.

Chase snaked an arm about her waist. "We can eat breakfast here tomorrow morning if you'd like."

"I'd love that," she said.

"So am I gonna see that bikini you packed?" he asked her eagerly, his cock already stiffening inside his board shorts.

* * *

After going back inside the room, Cuddy changed Rachel out of her onesie and into her yellow floral one piece bathing suit over her diaper and tiny pink jellied sandals while Chase set up the Pack N Play on Cuddy's side of the bed, having moved the hotel crib against the far wall.

"Make sure the hinges are all locked," Cuddy told him.

Chase nodded in agreement, double checking the hinges and confirming that the portable playpen was secure.

"She could always sleep with us in the bed if you want," he offered.

Cuddy arched her eyebrow. "What happened to 'she needs to be Ferberized so she can stay asleep in her own bed?'"

"Well, I figured that since we didn't have privacy this weekend…" Chase trailed off vaguely.

"So you suggested letting her cry it out for purely selfish reasons," she said with a smirk.

"Guilty," Chase said, wearing a sheepish smile.

She chuckled, placing Rachel in the middle of their king sized bed.

"Just for that, I'm not changing into my scandalous bikini in front of you," she declared in a flirtatious tone as she began to dig through her suitcase.

Chase tsked as he took a seat on the bed behind Rachel, watching Cuddy take out the two parts of what looked like a very skimpy royal blue bikini before heading to the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

"Mummy's a meanie," Chase told Rachel.

"_I heard that!_" Cuddy called out from the bathroom.

Chase laughed, grabbing the leather bound hotel guide off the night- stand to check out the restaurants in the hotel. He opened the book in front of Rachel.

"Ok, let's see where we can eat," he told her in a sweet voice.

Rachel focused on the book as Chase turned the pages, finding only three restaurant choices that were actually at the resort, one of them being a seafood place, the other a steakhouse.

"Hmmm. Doesn't look so good," Chase mused aloud to Rachel, knowing that Cuddy was a vegetarian and that she was particular about Rachel's dietary choices.

Rachel cooed, reaching over to turn the next page in the book.

Chase gasped enthusiastically as his eyes skimmed over the page that Rachel turned to.

"Look what you found!" he told her with a smile.

Rachel slapped her hands flat on the page she had opened to, which displayed nearby Pier Village, a shopping and dining area only a few miles away from the resort. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head and smoothed out her soft hair.

"They have great restaurants at Pier Village if you don't mind driving a little to have dinner," Chase called out to Cuddy.

Just then, Cuddy came out of the bathroom, wearing a royal blue push up bandeau bikini top that prominently displayed her luscious breasts and cleavage with a matching low- rise bottom, decorated with feminine ties on each side.

"I don't mind," she told him in a sultry voice, unable to resist posing for him just a little.

Upon seeing her, his jaw dropped ever so slightly, his erection making a comeback.

"… _Wow_…" he said, breathless, unable to take his eyes off her as they traced over her curves.

He then got up off the bed and crossed the room to her, placing his hands on her bare waist, his eyes filled with arousal.

"Is this for me?" he asked her huskily, playing with the ties on her bikini bottom.

"Mhm," she said, biting her lip.

He pulled her closer, holding her against his body and began kissing her neck. She smiled happily as his lips trailed down to the valley between her breasts.

"I should put sunscreen on Rachel before we go down there," she murmured, a tingly feeling traveling through her body right to the space between her legs as Chase cupped her breasts over her bikini.

"Mhm…" he murmured against the curve of her breast.

* * *

A little while later, the three of them had made their way to the hotel beach front, finding two empty lounge chairs to place their stuff on before heading down to the water.

After carrying her down to the water's edge, Chase put Rachel down on the sand and held her hand while Cuddy held her other one, the two of them waiting with excitement and anticipation for the surf to reach Rachel's bare feet.

Wearing a hat and floaties on both arms, Rachel's shrieked with delight once the water licked her toes, bobbing up and down as it went past her, covering her ankles.

"How does that feel? Does that feel cold?" Cuddy asked her daughter with enthusiasm.

"Dah!" Rachel declared happily, letting go of Chase's hand and pointing at the water.

"You want to go in?" he asked her excitedly.

"Chase, I don't think that's a good idea," Cuddy said nervously.

Ignoring Cuddy's concerns, Chase scooped Rachel up off her feet and headed into the water, holding Rachel securely in his arms against his hip.

"_Don't go out too far_!" Cuddy called out, still worried.

"_If you're so nervous, come in with us!_" Chase called back, finally stopping at a point where the water came up to his waist.

Having no real desire to get wet, but feeling like she didn't have a choice, Cuddy followed them, the cool water shocking her skin for a moment.

Once she reached them, Chase had already bobbed Rachel up and down in the water, dunking her in up to her belly. Rachel laughed hysterically, splashing her hands in the ocean, thoroughly enjoying herself.

"Isn't this nice? It's like a big bathtub," Chase told her, swirling her around in the water. "See, she loves it," he told Cuddy.

Despite her concerns, Cuddy smiled at Rachel, giving her a kiss on her cheek.

"You can give me one of those too, you know," Chase teased her.

Cuddy smirked, engulfing Chase's lips with her own as the water moved past them.

Suddenly, they both felt Rachel's tiny hand where there lips met, causing them both to laugh as they kissed.

"She's jealous," Cuddy said with a grin.

"Are you jealous that I'm kissing mummy?" Chase teased Rachel.

"Ma ma ma!" Rachel stated.

Chase laughed, nuzzling Rachel's nose with his.

"Here, I'll take her. Go get wet," Cuddy told him, holding her arms out.

Chase gave Rachel to Cuddy and dunked underneath the water for a moment before popping back up to the surface, causing Rachel to clap her hands and laugh out loud again.

"You like when Chase goes under?" Cuddy asked her as Chase pushed his wet hair out of his eyes.

"Day!" Rachel replied happily.

At this, both Chase and Cuddy looked at each other in shock.

"Day! Day!" Rachel repeated, reaching out for Chase.

"… I think you're '_Day_,'" Cuddy said to Chase, her eyes wide with realization, completely stunned that Rachel had referred to Chase by name.

"Am I '_Day_?!'" Chase asked Rachel ecstatically as he took Rachel in his arms.

Rachel reached up and touched Chase's wet face, patting the scruff on both of his cheeks.

"_DAY_!" she declared.

Chase laughed out loud, his heart swelling with emotion as he planted a kiss on Rachel's cheek.

"You could give me one of those too, you know," Cuddy teased, her own heart full as well.

* * *

Some time later, they had made their way back to their lounge chairs.

Chase was sitting with Rachel on the sand, helping her fill a plastic pink pail with a matching shovel that Cuddy had brought for her. Cuddy watched the two of them play together from her vantage point on one of the chairs, holding her digital camera in her hand, unable to stop smiling as she took candid pictures of them.

In her mind, Princeton Plainsboro and everything that went with it was millions of miles away.

And she couldn't be happier.

After filling the pail with wet sand to the top, Chase took the pail and turned it over, tapping the sides of the pail. Rachel watched him intently, waiting for something to happen.

As Chase carefully and slowly lifted the pail off the wet sand that had formed into the shape of the pail, he gasped aloud for Rachel's benefit.

"Look at that!" he told her.

Rachel looked up at Chase for a moment and then back down at the rudimentary sand castle, not knowing what to make of it.

She then smushed her hands into the formed wet sand, destroying what Chase had created, causing both Cuddy and Chase to laugh out loud.

"Oh no!" Chase said, still laughing. "You made a mess!"

Rachel opened and closed her fists, fascinated with the feeling of the wet sand between her fingers as Cuddy took a few more pictures of the two of them.

As Rachel continued to play with the sand in front of her, Chase gave Cuddy a thoughtful look.

"You think that Rachel would like a little brother or sister?" Chase asked her.

Cuddy's eyes almost popped out of her head, her breath catching in her throat at Chase's question.

"… You mean…" Cuddy stammered.

Chase gave her a soft smile, waiting for her answer.

"…Are you _serious_?" she asked him.

"I wouldn't have asked you if I wasn't," he replied.

"You're not even divorced yet," she reminded him, still shocked.

"But I _will_ be," he told her.

With that, Chase got up and sat down on the edge of the lounge chair near her knees, meeting her gaze.

"_I wanna get you pregnant, Lisa_," he told her softly and sincerely.

Before Cuddy could respond, Rachel began to whimper and cry, still fisting the sand in her hands.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Cuddy asked as she immediately got up from the chair and scooped Rachel up in her arms, making sure that she didn't get sand in her eyes or in her mouth. Chase grabbed the small box of baby wipes from Cuddy's beach bag and handed them to her.

"She's probably hungry," Cuddy surmised as Rachel continued to cry fussily, taking the wipes from Chase.

Chase nodded, watching Cuddy wipe Rachel's face and hands.

"We can go up to the Terrace by the pool. Their menu looked good," Chase suggested, wondering if Cuddy had been relieved by Rachel's interruption.

* * *

Around twenty minutes later, Chase, Cuddy and Rachel were sitting at a table at the Ocean Place Terrace, a small casual restaurant situated by the hotel pool.

While Rachel happily chewed on a Social Tea biscuit in one of the hotel's high chairs, Chase and Cuddy read their menu in silence.

"Turkey Club looks good," Cuddy commented after what seemed like an eternity.

"You're a vegetarian, remember?" Chase said.

"I meant for _you_," Cuddy replied.

Chase nodded with a tiny smile and looked back down at his menu, the anticipation driving him crazy.

Cuddy had never answered his earlier question.

He looked up from his menu as Cuddy debated the macaroni and cheese or the pizza from the kids' menu for Rachel, unable to stand it any longer.

"So are we just gonna sit here and pretend that I never told you that I want to get you pregnant?" Chase demanded lightly.

Cuddy exhaled and leaned back in her chair, meeting Chase's aquamarine eyes.

For the last twenty minutes, her mind had been reeling, wondering how to possibly answer Chase's question.

But now that his gaze was demanding an answer, she had no choice but to tell him the truth.

"Rob… a few years ago, I tried artificial insemination. The first two implantations never took… and… I lost the third one," she said in a raspy voice, the painful memories flooding back to her as she spoke.

Chase's lips parted, stunned.

"I… I'm sorry. I didn't know," he apologized.

She nodded and drew in a breath, finding the strength to continue.

"…For a long time, I felt like a failure because I couldn't conceive," she said, cutting herself off, forcing to stop the emotions that catching in her throat.

"I love that you want this," she told him sincerely, reaching across the table for his hand.

"But… if I couldn't give you a child—" she continued.

"We don't have to decide anything now," he reassured her.

She exhaled again, somewhat relieved. Chase smiled at her, squeezing her hand.

"You're disappointed," she said, her own smile melancholy.

"No I'm not," he told her.

She searched his face, wanting so much to believe him.

But she just couldn't be sure.

"I'll be right back, ok? I need to use the men's room," he said, kissing her hand.

"Ok," she nodded.

Cuddy watched Chase get up from the table. He leaned over and kissed her cheek before turning around and rounding the corner out of sight.

Cuddy leaned on her hand, her elbow propped up on the table as she brushed the bangs out of Rachel's eyes, lost in thought when she heard an all- too familiar voice.

"_Cuddy_?" a female voice asked.

Cuddy looked up, her stomach tightening like a vice.

Cameron was walking towards their table, wearing a yellow bikini, accompanied by a young, rather handsome dark- haired man that she didn't recognize wearing a pair of swim trunks.

"I thought that was you," Cameron said with a friendly smile.

Cuddy laughed nervously. "It's me," she said, frantically hoping that there was a long line in the men's room.

"Here for a weekend getaway?" Cameron asked, smiling at Rachel, who was looking up at her with wide eyes, still chewing on her cookie.

Cuddy nodded quickly. "… Yeah. You?"

"No, we're just here for the day," Cameron replied.

Cuddy drew in a breath, nodding again, her heart hammering in her ears, now praying that Chase somehow got lost on his way to the men's room.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Cameron said, realizing that she had not yet introduced her date. "This is Michael. Michael, this is my boss, Dr. Lisa Cuddy."

"Pleasure," Michael said warmly, reaching for her hand.

Cuddy smiled and shook his hand, finding it difficult to breathe.

At that moment, Cameron noticed the other menu on the table.

"Are you here with someone?" Cameron asked with interest.

"_FUCK_," Cuddy cursed to herself silently.

"Yes. My sister," she said, shocked how easy the lie fell out of her mouth.

Cameron nodded. "Well… enjoy the rest of your day," she said.

"You too," Cuddy said, starting to relax that Cameron was about to turn around and leave.

But as Cameron turned on her heel, Chase re- appeared from around the corner and walked back up to their table.

"You've gotta see the bathrooms. Everything's automated," Chase said, impressed.

Cuddy winced, praying that Cameron didn't hear his unmistakable voice.

But it was too late.

Cameron stopped in her tracks.

Almost in slow motion, she turned around to see Chase standing in front of her.

At the sight of Cameron, Chase froze, his stomach rising up into his throat.

Cameron remained staring at him, completely lost for words, an incredibly painful sensation spreading through her chest as she put two and two together in her mind.

"_Day_!!" Rachel squealed excitedly upon Chase's return, holding her arms up to him.

Chase felt like he was going to vomit right there.

The humiliation washing over her, Cameron turned to Michael, wishing she could disappear.

"…L-let's go," she said softly to Michael, her voice quivering.

Not having any idea why Cameron was so upset, Michael nodded and took her hand, leading her away from the table.

Chase shot a panicked glance at Cuddy, who had her head in her hand, completely embarrassed as well.

"Allie, wait," Chase called out to Cameron.

But Cameron refused to stop or turn around, holding onto Michael's hand like a lifeline. as they continued to walk away.

Chase ran after them barefoot, catching up to them, touching Cameron's shoulder.

"Allie, please let me explain," he said pathetically.

She whipped around, her eyes furiously shooting daggers at him, ripping her shoulder away from his grasp.

"Explain _WHAT_?! That you've been _LYING_ to me all this time? That you've been having an affair with our boss? That you've made a complete _FOOL_ out of me?!" she demanded angrily, ignoring the crowd that she was staring to draw around them.

"I never meant to hurt you—" Chase began feebly.

"_FUCK YOU, CHASE!!_" she spat out at him.

Chase flinched slightly at her outburst, darting his eyes to the ground, his cheeks burning with shame.

Michael took Cameron's hand once more. "C'mon sweetie. Let's go," he coaxed her.

But she didn't budge, still piercing Chase with her stare.

"You'll be hearing from my attorney," Cameron finally stated, her voice barely above a whisper and devoid of any emotion before she turned around once more, leaving Chase standing in the middle of the Terrace, surrounded by curious strangers.

TBC…


	20. Chapter 19

**HI EVERYONE!**

**THANKS FOR READING AND FOR YOUR ALL YOUR WONDERFUL COMMENTS!**

**IT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME THAT SO MANY PEOPLE ARE ENJOYING THIS STORY, ESPECIALLY SINCE CHASE/ CUDDY ARE NOT A TYPICAL SHIP.**

**HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :D **

* * *

**CHAPTER NINETEEN: Please read and comment.**

"Allie, please let me explain," Chase said pathetically after catching up to her.

She whipped around, her eyes furiously shooting daggers at him, ripping her shoulder away from his grasp.

"Explain _WHAT_?! That you've been _LYING_ to me all this time? That you've been having an affair with our boss? That you've made a complete _FOOL_ out of me?!" she demanded angrily, ignoring the crowd that she was staring to draw around them.

"I never meant to hurt you—" Chase began feebly.

"_FUCK YOU, CHASE!_!" she spat out at him.

Chase flinched slightly at her outburst, darting his eyes to the ground, his cheeks burning with shame.

Michael took Cameron's hand once more. "C'mon sweetie. Let's go," he coaxed her.

But she didn't budge, still piercing Chase with her stare.

"You'll be hearing from my attorney," Cameron finally stated, her voice barely above a whisper and devoid of any emotion before she turned around once more, leaving Chase standing in the middle of the Terrace, surrounded by curious strangers.

* * *

**MONDAY MORNING.**

A little before 9 AM that morning, Chase walked up to the glass doors that led to House's conference room.

He was so lost in his own thoughts of what had happened during the weekend that he didn't even notice that Cameron had walked up to the door at the exact same time until she put her hand on the door handle just as he had.

Their eyes met immediately, both of them frozen as if they were in suspended animation.

For a brief second, the wrath that Cameron had shown Chase at the beach resort flickered across her bright green eyes.

But it disappeared as soon as it had come, and her expression became stoic.

She drew in a breath before turning her attention back to the door and pulled it open, saying nothing to him as she did so.

Chase remained silent as he let her go in to the office first, following her in right behind her.

Foreman was already sitting at the conference table, and copies of the files of their latest patient were already waiting for them.

"Twenty two year old male with a rash on his stomach, face, arms and legs. ER ruled out allergy, and poison ivy, dermatologist ruled out folliculitis and eczema," Foreman told them by way of greeting.

"Could be meningitis," Chase suggested as he slung his messenger bag on the backs of one of the chairs.

"No neck pain, no fever," Foreman told him.

"Think the ER could recognize meningitis," Cameron muttered sarcastically as she picked up a copy of the file, her anger just seething under the surface.

Chase shot her a sideways glance before picking up one of the files for himself.

"Could be an STD," she suggested.

"It's not on his groin," Chase pointed out as he read the file.

"So _what_? He's a man. He has _sex_," Cameron said, her anger seeping through just a bit more in her voice.

Foreman arched his eyebrow at Cameron's statement, having a distinct feeling that there was more behind her words and her icy demeanor towards Chase.

Chase inhaled through his nose, darting a glance at Foreman before turning his attention back to Cameron.

"Could be chicken pox. I know he's a little old for it, but it's not unheard of—" Chase began, trying to remain professional.

"No fever, no itching," Cameron pointed out in a challenging tone, crossing her arms over her chest while still holding the file.

"Maybe he had a fever and he didn't take his temperature," Chase said.

"Yeah, and maybe he's a _MORON_ and didn't realize that the rash covering sixty percent of his body was _itching_ him!" she shot back angrily.

"Could be a mild case. We haven't seen the patient yet," Chase said, struggling to keep a defensive edge out of his voice.

"I'm testing him for STD's," Cameron announced flatly, slapping the file down on the table and turning around to leave.

"...We haven't reached a consensus yet," Foreman stated, now more intrigued than ever.

Cameron exhaled, regaining her composure and turned around to face Foreman once again.

"Fine. Then you just sit here on your _ass_ and reach a consensus. I'm going to do my job," she told him before turning back around and leaving the room without so much as a backwards glance.

Chase tossed the file onto the glass table in a dejected manner and took a seat, leaning heavily back against the chair, Foreman watching his every move.

"What's going on?" Foreman demanded.

"He screwed up," House said.

Both men turned towards the door that led to House's private office.

The door was opened and House was standing in the doorway, leaning on his cane.

Chase lolled his head back and closed his eyes, realizing that House had been listening to he and Cameron argue back and forth the entire time.

"Why were you in your office during the differential?" Foreman asked House as House made his way towards the conference table.

"Figured the actors would be timid if I was sitting too close to the stage," House said as he took a seat at the table across from Chase, his bright blue eyes bearing down on the younger man.

Chase caught his glance for a moment before propping his elbows up on the table and leaning on his hands, his stomach churning, petrified as to what might come out of House's mouth.

"She found out, didn't she?" House said to Chase knowingly.

Chase darted his eyes at House once again before looking away.

"Found out what??" Foreman asked, losing his patience.

"Chase dyes his hair. He's not really a natural blond," House replied deadpan.

Chase closed his eyes, knowing House all too well that he wouldn't just leave it at a sarcastic remark.

"He cheated on Cameron," House stated plainly, as if he was telling them the weather forecast.

Foreman's eyes widened tremendously, snapping his head around to Chase.

"You were _CHEATING_ on her?!" Foreman repeated, incredulous. "I thought you guys were separated!"

"_BEFORE_ they were separated," House clarified, still staring Chase down.

"But that's not the best part," House added lightly.

At that point, Chase winced, wishing that he could just disappear.

"What's the best part?" Foreman asked eagerly.

House opened his mouth, about to reveal to Foreman that Chase had been cheating on Cameron with their boss.

But suddenly, Chase found his voice.

"How much damage do you really want to cause today?" Chase asked House softly but firmly, fixing a pointed stare at him.

At this, House shut his mouth, remaining silent.

Chase kept his gaze on House for a moment longer before getting up from the table himself and leaving the office.

* * *

A short time later, Cameron was in the lab, running tests on their patient when House found her there.

"Patient have an STD?" House asked her.

"I'm still waiting for the test results," Cameron replied, her voice barely above a whisper, focusing on her work and avoiding House's penetrating gaze on her.

"Hm," House said perfunctorily, turning around to leave.

"You _knew_," Cameron blurted out, her voice quavering slightly, unable to control her emotions any longer.

House turned back around to face her, his face placid.

"You knew the _ENTIRE_ _TIME_ and you lied right to my face," she continued, the tears welling up in her eyes.

"And you believed me," House said plainly.

"Why wouldn't I believe you?" she asked, her lower lip quivering.

"Why _WOULD_ you? Why do you trust me so much?" he asked her.

Finding that she had no answer to his question, she turned back to the counter and the lab equipment, willing the tears in her eyes not to roll down her cheeks.

But House wouldn't let up.

"You and Chase were having problems. You ran away to your aunt in Chicago instead of facing them head- on. You ignored him, took on extra work and covered people's shifts just to avoid him. What did you expect him to do? Tell you it was Tuesday and be cock blocked by your husband's sperm for the rest of your life?!" he demanded.

She whipped around again to face him, her eyes blazing with anger.

"Are you saying I _DESERVED_ this? That I drove him right into Cuddy's arms?" she spat out, her heart hammering in her chest.

"I'm saying that you never wanted to marry Chase in the first place," he stated.

Cameron flinched ever so slightly at his remark.

House stepped closer to her, knowing that his words had cut her deeply.

"But you knew that if you didn't marry him, you'd lose him forever and you couldn't deal with that," he continued.

"So you figured you'd live in a loveless marriage with a good friend because you've been through worse and because you didn't have the guts to tell the truth," he finally finished.

Her insides twisting, she refused to break her gaze with him, too stubborn to admit that his words were absolutely correct.

"And the only reason why you're in this lab right now is because you _STILL_ don't have the guts to confront Cuddy," he told her, now inches away from her face.

He then left the lab, leaving Cameron alone with her thoughts and the tests that she was in the middle of running.

* * *

Right after leaving the lab, House headed right to the Clinic, finding a spot in chairs and holding a copy of _The New York Times_ in front of his face so he could be inconspicuous.

After baiting Cameron into having a confrontation with Cuddy, it was only a matter of time before Cameron would come striding into the Clinic on her way to Cuddy's office.

And if he was lucky, he might just see them ripping their shirts off in a cat- fight over Chase.

As if on cue, Cameron stormed through the clinic a few minutes later and headed right to Cuddy's office.

House immediately got up from the chair and found a spot near the charge nurses' desk, grabbing an orange lollipop out of the jar, ready to watch the drama unfold.

* * *

Cuddy was sitting at her desk immersed in paperwork when Cameron pushed her way through the door and slapped a sealed envelope onto her desk in front of her.

Without looking up, Cuddy knew that Cameron was standing in front of her.

And after tossing and turning all night over the anxiety of this very moment, she was ready.

Calmly, she picked up the envelope and met Cameron's stare with a cool gaze.

"What's this?" Cuddy asked.

"You know what it is," Cameron said curtly.

Cuddy nodded and opened up the envelope, reading Cameron's one- sentence letter of resignation silently to herself.

"Are you sure about this?" Cuddy asked, maintaining her calm tone.

"You really expect me to be able to work here from now on?" Cameron demanded, not even trying to hide her anger.

"...No, I guess not," she admitted.

"So how did it happen?" Cameron demanded of her, folding her arms across her chest.

Seeing no reason to hide anything from her, Cuddy decided to tell her the truth.

"… the weekend you went away to see your aunt, Chase came over for dinner. I cooked for him as a thank- you for babysitting for me the week before," she said in a low voice.

"Did you wear a low cut blouse and a tight skirt? Oh, I forgot. That's _ALL_ you wear," Cameron said bitingly.

"…I understand you're upset—" Cuddy began.

"You don't understand _ANYTHING_!!" Cameron yelled, causing Cuddy to flinch at her outburst.

"Chase and I were married! We took vows! We made promises to each other!" Cameron continued, her voice shaking as it had before in the lab, gesturing with her arms as she spoke.

Cuddy remained silent, despite the stab of guilt she felt at Cameron's words.

"You really think he loves you? That he'll stay with you? Be a father to your daughter?" Cameron demanded menacingly.

"When the next pretty thing in a low cut shirt comes along, _TRUST_ me. He'll cheat on you just like he cheated on me," she continued bitterly, her hands now on Cuddy's desk as if it was the only thing holding her up.

"Chase didn't cheat on you because of my wardrobe choices and you know it," Cuddy told her, her voice resonating a strength from somewhere deep within her.

"We were apart for _ONE WEEKEND_ and he slept with you!! What does that tell you about him?!" Cameron exclaimed, her last shreds of control slipping away.

"It tells me that you can only neglect someone for so long before they finally decide to walk away," Cuddy replied, still calm, keeping a cool and even gaze on Cameron.

"You don't mean _ANYTHING_ to him," Cameron said in a gravely voice.

Cameron's words stabbed Cuddy right in her heart.

But she remained in her seat, refusing to show Cameron any indication that her hurtful words had affected her in any way.

"I hope for yours and Rachel's sake that I'm wrong about him," Cameron added.

"I'll give you two more weeks to find someone else to replace me. But that's it," Cameron told her before finally leaving Cuddy's office.

Once Cameron was out of sight, Cuddy leaned her head heavily in her hands, exhaling deeply, praying that Cameron was indeed wrong about Chase.

* * *

A few minutes later, House entered Cuddy's office, clearly disappointed.

"Well that sucked," House declared.

Cuddy immediately sat up in her chair, resuming her straight posture, refusing to give House the satisfaction of seeing any of her emotions.

"Sorry to disappoint you," Cuddy said in a clipped tone.

"So was it worth it?" House asked her.

"What do you mean?" Cuddy asked in a raspy voice, meeting House's gaze.

"Losing one of your better doctors in this hospital, your dignity and your self- respect for Chase?" House posed.

Cuddy's breath began to grow shallow as she struggled to maintain any composure that she had left.

"It's ok. I don't expect a real answer," House said.

"Then why did you ask me?" she said softly.

"Because that's what you need to ask yourself," House told her before leaving her office.

TBC…


	21. Chapter 20

**I WANT TO THANK EVERYONE WHO HAS BEEN READING AND REVIEWING THIS STORY. IT WAS A GREAT CHALLENGE AND SO MUCH FUN TO WRITE.**

**I AM BEYOND GRATEFUL AND HAPPY THAT I GOT SO MANY WONDERFUL REVIEWS ON THIS.**

**I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED READING IT AS MUCH AS I ENJOYED CREATING IT.**

**AND THANK YOU SO MUCH TO HUDDYLICIOUS WHO PROVIDED ME WITH THE ORIGINAL PROMPT. :D**

**HERE'S THE FINAL CHAPTER.**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :D **

* * *

**CHAPTER TWENTY:**

**ONE YEAR LATER.**

Cuddy exhaled deeply as she wiped the sweat off her forehead and the back of her neck with the handkerchief she had tucked in the waistband of her skirt on her way to the charge's nurse's desk.

The Clinic was packed with patients, all suffering from various ailments, the combination of the heat wave that had hit New Jersey that July and the fact that the Clinic's air conditioner had broken down that morning.

"Call maintenance again and tell them that if they don't fix the air conditioner in _HERE_ that I'm turning off their cable service down _THERE_," Cuddy ordered nurse Jeffrey as she picked up the next patient file and headed to exam room 1.

"Yes, Dr. Cuddy," Jeffrey replied as he picked up the phone to call maintenance.

* * *

Cuddy entered exam room 1 completely immersed in her current patient's file.

"So what brings you here…" Cuddy began, finally looking up from the file.

She stopped in her tracks upon seeing a pretty blonde girl in her early twenties whose legs were completely covered with red welts, which she was scratching incessantly as she sat on the top of the exam table.

"… today?" Cuddy finished, her brow arching significantly upon eyeing the girl's legs.

"It's itching like crazy. I went hiking the other day, but I know what poison ivy looks like so I avoided it," the young girl complained as she continued to scratch her skin.

"…This isn't poison ivy. They're mosquito bites," Cuddy told her upon closer examination.

"Mosquito bites?! They're _HUGE_!" the girl exclaimed.

"That's because you had a mild allergic reaction," Cuddy explained to her while she opened one of the drawers underneath the counter in the exam room.

The young girl's eyes widened tremendously when she saw Cuddy pull out a sterile needle with a rather long point along with a small bottle.

"What's that?" the girl asked her nervously.

"I'm giving you a shot of cortisone," Cuddy told her.

"… C-can't you just give me a cream or something?" the girl suggested, eyeing the needle with trepidation.

"I _AM_ going to give you a cream. And an antihistamine. But you also need this if you don't want to scratch your skin off your legs," Cuddy told her firmly. "Now lean over."

The girl nodded and did as Cuddy told her to, screwing her eyes shut as she pulled down the waistband of her shorts. She winced in pain as Cuddy administered the cortisone injection into the top of her behind.

"Do you have Benadryl or Zyrtec in the house?" Cuddy asked her.

"I have Benadryl," the girl replied, gingerly rolling back onto her butt.

"Take one pill twice a day for the next three days. I'm also writing you a prescription for Diprolene cream, which is a topical steroid. You're going to apply that to the bites twice a day as well. You should feel much better in three days. If not, come back," Cuddy told her as she wrote out the prescription.

The girl nodded as Cuddy handed her the paper, looking at her curiously.

"Do you always work in the Clinic?" the girl asked her.

"All of our doctors work in the Clinic. Why?" Cuddy asked, confused by the randomness of her question.

"…I was here six months ago with a cough and a different doctor treated me…" the girl began, her cheeks flushing slightly pink.

"… And… I was kinda hoping I'd see him again," she added with an embarrassed shrug.

"Who was your doctor?" Cuddy asked.

"Really cute blonde Australian guy?" the girl said.

"Dr. Chase," Cuddy said, a knowing smile appearing on her features at the mention of his name.

"Yes," the girl said, her eyes lighting up with excitement. "Do you work with him?"

Cuddy paused for a moment, her tiny, yet melancholy smile remaining.

"…Sorry. Dr. Chase doesn't work here anymore," Cuddy told her.

"Well that stinks," the girl said flatly.

"Is that the only reason you came here?" Cuddy asked her.

"…I did need to see a doctor," the girl replied sheepishly.

"You can fill that at the pharmacy," Cuddy said with a laugh as she grabbed the girl's chart on her way out of the exam room.

* * *

At around the same time, House and Wilson were having lunch in their usual booth in the cafeteria.

"How's your patient?" Wilson asked as he took a bite of his BLT.

"Still sick," House replied, grabbing a few French fries off of Wilson's place.

"How's your team?" Wilson asked him.

"Boring," House stated flatly.

"Foreman, Taub and Thirteen aren't entertaining you?" Wilson said sarcastically.

"Foreman and Thirteen are sleeping together again, and Taub reconciled with his wife. _Again_," House explained.

"So… everyone's getting along…" Wilson began.

"Ergo, _BORING_," House stated as he began to flip through the tabloid magazine he had purchased earlier that day at the hospital's newsstand.

Wilson nodded, eyeing his friend with contemplation.

"You going to Cameron's wedding?" Wilson asked him.

"Didn't go to her last one," House replied, not bothering to look up from the glossy magazine as he turned the page.

"And look how that turned out," Wilson remarked.

"So you're saying if I go to _THIS_ one, her marriage will last and equilibrium will be restored in the universe once again," House stated.

"Karma's a weird thing," Wilson quipped.

"I left the response card in my other pants," House snarked.

"That's ok, 'cause mine is right here," Wilson said cheerily as he took an ecru colored card and matching envelope out of the front pocket of his lab coat.

House rolled his eyes skyward as he watched Wilson write "**DR. JAMES WILSON AND DR. GREGORY HOUSE WILL BE HAPPY TO ATTEND**" in the space provided on the card.

"You know what people are gonna say when they see us arrive together," House commented.

"They've been saying that about us for years. You gonna let it bother you now?" Wilson asked him.

"…Good point," House admitted.

Wilson placed the response card in the small matching envelope, sealed it and placed it back in the pocket of his lab coat.

"Wonder if Maxwell let her keep the sperm," House mused.

"Cameron's fiancé's name is _Michael_ and I _KNEW_ that you missed Chase," Wilson declared smugly.

"You got that I miss Chase from mentioning Cameron's late husband's sperm?" House asked with a grimace.

"I just know the way you think," Wilson said with a satisfied smile on his face.

"I don't miss Chase," House muttered, stealing more of Wilson's French fries.

"You said it yourself. Your team is boring and you can't deny that things were definitely more interesting when Chase was around," Wilson pointed out.

"I'm not confirming or denying anything. And I _DON'T_ miss Chase," House stated.

"Then why did you call him yesterday?" Wilson said in an accusing tone.

"How do you know I called him?" House demanded, his eyes widening in genuine surprise.

"You need to look under the stalls in the men's bathroom before you make a phone call if you want total privacy," Wilson revealed smugly.

House snorted as he reached across the table to nick a sip of Wilson's diet coke.

"Forget it, House. Nothing's bringing Chase back here and you know it," Wilson told him.

"This is all Cuddy's fault, you know," House stated as he gave Wilson back his soda.

"Of course it is," Wilson said, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

"Oh. So it's _MY_ fault that they decided that they couldn't work together?" House demanded.

Wilson didn't answer him, reaching across the table to grab House's tabloid.

"I had the perfect situation! A lap dog that I didn't have to train _AND_ a skilled surgeon at my beck and call! And Cuddy had to go and screw it all up," House complained.

"My heart bleeds for you, House," Wilson said flatly.

House leaned heavily on his hand, focusing once again on Wilson's plate and the few French fries he had left.

"You gonna finish those?" House asked him.

* * *

Later that evening, House was alone in his dimly lit private office, sitting on his leather chair, his legs stretched out on the matching ottoman, deep in thought when Cuddy walked in.

"What are you still doing here?" House asked her, noticing as he had so many times before how the security lights illuminated her shapely, toned legs.

"I was just on my way home. How's your patient?" she asked him.

"Stable," he replied.

"Then why are _YOU_ still here?" she asked, taking a seat next to his legs on the ottoman.

"Waiting for test results," he told her, moving his legs over slightly so she had room to sit down.

"You never wait around for test results," she pointed out.

"I've got a bet with Taub that it's not osteomyelitis and I wanna see his face when I'm right," he said.

She nodded with a tiny smile, not believing him for a moment.

"Probably would've had a diagnosis already if I had another team member. Preferably a blond Australian—" he added begrudgingly.

"It's been almost a year since Chase left. When are you gonna stop this?" she asked him in exasperation.

House turned down his lip, pretending to think it over.

"Knowing me… never," he said.

She chuckled slightly, tracing his features with her eyes as his lips slowly curled into a smile.

"You look tired," she commented softly.

"What you're really saying is that I look like _crap_," he stated flatly.

"I did not say that!" she said defensively.

"'_You look tired_' is the diplomatic way of saying '_you look like crap,_'" he told her.

"When have you ever known me to be diplomatic with you?" she argued.

"I think that's my line," he quipped, the corners of his lips turning upwards once again.

She couldn't help but laugh again at that. She placed her hand on his shin and rubbed his leg over his jeans affectionately.

He gazed thoughtfully into her eyes, both of them enjoying the comfortable silence between them.

"I spoke to Chase yesterday," House stated off- handedly.

Cuddy arched her brow slightly, the only indication that her facial expression had changed at all.

"I asked him to come back to work for me," he added.

"…So… my feelings on this don't matter at all," she clarified with an edge to her voice, trying to quell the rising irritation and slight anger that was beginning to build up within her.

"Not really," he replied lightly, secretly enjoying that he was goading her.

"What did he say?" she demanded.

"…He said... he's happy where he is," he said with a shrug, keeping a cool and even gaze on her.

She drew in a breath and quietly exhaled as she nodded in reply, her emotions calming.

"Just so we're clear. I blame _you_ for why he left," House told her.

A tiny chuckle escaped her lips.

"Duly noted," she told him.

He snorted and winced, shifting his position on the chair to ease the twinge of pain that shot up his leg.

Cuddy furrowed her brow in concern for a moment, but said nothing, knowing that House never liked for anyone to make a fuss over him.

"Good luck with your bet," she told him.

"Thanks," he replied.

She kept her gaze on him a moment longer before she got up off the ottoman to leave his office.

"I've also got a pool going about how long it's gonna take before your ginormous ass shrinks back to its regular supertanker size," he told her before she reached the door.

Still facing away from him, she smiled, keeping her laugh to herself. She turned around once more to face him, her hair flipping over her shoulder as he did so.

He loved it when she did that.

But he'd never admit it to her.

"G'night, House," she told him.

"G'night, Cuddy," he replied.

After watched her leave his office, House turned his attention towards his desk, smiling almost fondly at the empty space on it where his grey and red oversized tennis ball used to be.

* * *

Around twenty minutes later, Cuddy came home to find Rosalind, her nanny, finishing folding some clothes on top of the dining room table and placing them neatly in a laundry basket.

"Hi Rosalind," Cuddy greeted her, placing her purse on the table.

"How was your day, Dr. Cuddy?" Rosalind asked her.

"Long. Is Rachel asleep?" Cuddy asked.

"Yes," Rosalind replied, folding the last t- shirt and placing it in the basket. "Would you like me to take this up for you?"

"No, you've had a long day too. I'll do it," she replied.

Rosalind smiled and nodded. "Have a good night, Dr. Cuddy."

"You too," she told her.

Deciding to leave the clean laundry for tomorrow, she toed out of her heels and cut through the living room on her way to Rachel's bedroom.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted what used to be House's oversized red and grey tennis ball in the corner of the couch.

A tiny laugh escaped her lips as she picked it up and bobbled it in her hands before heading to Rachel's room.

* * *

Cuddy silently tiptoed into Rachel's bedroom and smiled lovingly at her daughter as she stood over her crib.

Now almost two years old, Rachel slept peacefully on her stomach, her soft curls cascading past her neck and covering her face slightly.

Cuddy delicately brushed Rachel's fine hair off her cheek, causing her to stir just a little in her sleep.

As she had done so many times before, Cuddy held her breath, hoping she didn't just wake her daughter up by accident.

But as Rachel merely exhaled through her nose, Cuddy breathed a tiny sigh of relief and left the room, leaving her daughter to sleep, still holding the red and grey tennis ball in her hand.

* * *

"You trying to teach a three- month- old to catch?" Cuddy asked softly, standing in the doorway of the third bedroom, holding up the red and grey tennis ball in her hand.

From his position in the cushioned glider rocking chair in the corner of the room, Chase looked up at Cuddy and smiled at her.

"It's never too early," Chase replied, matching her soft tone, before looking back down at their infant son, Zach, as he continued to feed him his evening bottle of formula.

"He asleep?" Cuddy asked, crossing the room to them.

"Almost," Chase said, holding Zach in a slightly elevated position as their baby continued to suck evenly from the bottle.

She bent down and gave Chase a gentle kiss on his lips, smiling fondly as she always did at the sight of him with a burp cloth slung over his left shoulder as he fed their son.

She giggled as she looked at Zach's tiny wisps of blond hair, which were sticking up in all different directions.

"You ever brush this kid's hair?" she asked Chase.

"I like it like this. He looks cool, like his dad," Chase replied, slightly defensive.

Cuddy ran her fingers through Chase's now closely cropped blond hair, which was also sticking up in several different directions.

"How was your day?" Cuddy asked him, taking a seat on the matching ottoman in front of the rocking chair.

"Rachel learned how to take off her diaper by _herself_ today," Chase told her, his voice a mixture of pride and exasperation.

"That's great!" Cuddy said enthusiastically, yet quietly so as not to upset Zachary as he began to drift off to sleep.

"Not so great when I'm trying to keep it _ON_ her," Chase quipped.

Cuddy laughed. "It's a developmental milestone for a toddler to be able to take off their own clothing. She's actually ahead a couple of months."

"Tell that to all the stay at home mums at our pool club who have no trouble keeping their own kid's clothes on while they give me disapproving looks as I run after Rachel's nekkid bottom around the pool deck," Chase said.

"I'm paying Rosalind to help you. Don't tell me she just sits there—" Cuddy began.

"She _DOES_ help. Your daughter's a fighter," Chase reminded her, smirking.

"She's _your_ daughter now too, you know," Cuddy pointed out fondly.

"When she refuses to put on her clothes, she's _YOUR_ daughter," Chase joked.

* * *

After placing Zach in his crib and putting the red and grey tennis ball back on his dresser, Chase and Cuddy went back to their bedroom.

As Chase slipped out of his board shorts and t- shirt, Cuddy watched Zach through the video baby monitor on her dresser with a melancholy expression.

"I feel like I hardly ever see him," she said sadly.

"That's why we set up the web cam in your office," Chase reminded her. "And you don't work weekends."

Cuddy exhaled, Chase's words doing little to comfort her.

"…Maybe I shouldn't have gone back to work this soon…" she mumbled as she unzipped her skirt.

"What did House say about your arse today?" Chase interrupted her knowingly.

Cuddy tsked. "Nothing," she lied as she stepped out of her skirt and draped it over the chair in the corner of their bedroom.

Chase raised his eyebrows, not believing her at all. Cuddy rolled her eyes at her husband and began to unbutton her short- sleeved silk blouse.

"Apparently there's a pool going about long it's gonna take me to lose all the baby weight," she muttered, slipping her blouse off her shoulders.

"I know. I put in five- hundred for four months," Chase told her, fighting off a grin as his eyes traced over her delectable curvy body, her demi bra and scrap of panties barely covering her.

Cuddy's jaw dropped in shock, her blouse only mid- way off her arms.

"You bet against your own _WIFE_?! You don't even work there anymore!" she exclaimed.

Chase, now clad only in his black cotton boxers, crossed the room to her, took her blouse the rest of the way off her arms and pulled her close to him, wrapping his own arms around her waist.

"We're gonna clean up, baby. I've got inside information," he told her, sliding his hands over the lace band of her thong down to her supple ass, giving it a generous squeeze, loving the feeling of her almost naked body pressed against him.

His erection in his boxers seemed to like it, too.

"You're lucky I love you," she told him.

"I know."

He kissed her, his tongue delicately teasing hers. She moaned into his mouth, putting her arms about his shoulders. He then trailed his lips down her neck as he reached up to cup her breast over her demi- bra.

"Besides in a few months… I'll be going back to work, too," he murmured against her neck, stroking her nipple over the fabric of her bra with his thumb.

Cuddy gasped excitedly. "You got the space?!"

"Yep," he said with a huge smile.

"That's fantastic!" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Chase lifted her off her feet and spun her around, thrilled that he had been able to hold off the surprise as long as he did.

"After some major renovations, I'll officially be a family doctor in private practice," he stated proudly.

"So are you gonna start interviewing PA's?" she asked him, her eyes dancing.

"Not until all the renovations are done. Right now the place looks like it should be condemned," he told her.

"I guess we'll have to hire Rosalind full time, then," she mused.

"We can put Zach in Rachel's day care for part of the day. They're excellent," Chase said.

"You really want him exposed to all those germs that soon?" she asked.

"I take him everywhere. He's already exposed. And Rachel's all over him."

"Yeah, but it's the summer," Cuddy reminded him. "Once cold and flu season starts—"

"Rachel's gonna be bringing home the same germs," Chase interrupted her.

"And we've got less than four hours before Zach wakes up again. You really want to waste it arguing the hygiene hypothesis?" he added, flashing her a sexy grin.

"… No," she admitted, returning his smile.

* * *

Cuddy arched back on their bed, her legs wrapped around Chase's hips, moaning in time with each of Chase's deep, decadent thrusts.

He lifted up slightly off her, hooking his hand underneath her thigh, lifting her leg higher to give her even more friction against her tingling clit where she needed it most.

"Oh god…" she squealed desperately at the incredibly intense sensation between her legs, her breasts bouncing with each movement, almost about to tip over the edge.

"Shhh… you'll wake both of them," he managed to say through gasps of breath as he continued to thrust into her.

She bit her lip to hold back from crying out, as she went over, the electricity spreading through her entire body overtaking her. Chase shuddered as the force of his own orgasm ripped through him, burying his face in her neck to keep quiet.

He collapsed on the bed next to her, utterly exhausted, taking deep breaths.

"You ok?" she asked, trying to catch her own breath.

"Uh huh…" he managed to say.

Chase let out one more deep exhale before closing his eyes, heavily draping his arm across Cuddy's naked frame. She did the same, nuzzling next to him, both their bodies covered with a thin film of sweat.

They shared a wonderful silence for a few moments in the darkness of their bedroom.

Cuddy glanced at the clock, silently calculating that they now had less than three hours before Zach woke up for his next feeding.

"House misses you," Cuddy mentioned.

"Does he now?" Chase said, his voice muffled by the pillow.

She nodded. "He still blames me for why you left."

"He should blame _ME_. I'm the one who didn't want to be bossed around all day by my wife. I get that enough at home," he retorted.

She laughed lazily. "He told me that he called you."

"Mhm," he mumbled as he began to drift off.

Cuddy felt an anxious twinge inside her as she braced herself to ask him her next question.

"…Did you really mean it when you told him that you were happy where you are?" she asked him.

"Mhm," he said, rubbing the outside of her thigh and ass, despite the sleep that began to overtake him.

She smiled, remembering the question that House had forced her to ask herself a year ago in her office.

"… Then it was worth it," she said.

"What was worth it?" Chase asked, almost incoherently.

She laughed softly, kissing his bare chest.

"Nothing. Get some sleep," she told him.

"_Mmph_," was all Chase said before falling into a deep sleep next to her.

THE END.

* * *

Again, thank you so much for reading.

Please let me know if you're interested in a sequel. :D


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